What is a Pushita? Hint: Non-Invasive BGM

 

“Pushita” Joins the Race to Market for a Non-invasive BG Monitor

Its called “Pushita”pronounced (P-sheet-a), which is derived from an ancient language meaning “simple.” The Pushita technology uses a light based system to read a wide variety of biological markers directly under the surface of the skin. The monitor is blood-free and absolutely painless.

Different in that the others out there that are using interstitiual fluids have to go through a membrane.  This technology is different in that it uses an optical scanner to register the floresence that it gives out and relates that to glucose levels.  It is like putting a blood glucose strip below the service of the skin and reading it while it is there. Time to finish test is 15 seconds.  

 

The first prototype is contained in the arm of a chair and is hooked to a laptop computer is capable of determining a diabetic's glucose level without withdrawing blood or causing any sensation to the patient. 

The Phase 1 Clinical Trials will consist of up to 40 Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes patients and is being conducted at a regional diabetes clinic near the company's facilities in St. Louis. The company anticipates completion of the Phase 1 Clinical Trials during the first quarter of 2002.

 

The Pushita device utilizes a sensor on a fiber optic filament roughly one-fifth the width of a human hair. The filament enters the skin tissue to a depth of 100 microns, or about one tenth of a millimeter.  The device analyzes a clear fluid called interstitial fluid, which is found in skin tissue and collects in blisters which is above the finger's capillaries and nerve endings. And there is no blood and no sensation of entry, said  William Edelman, CEO of MicroSense, LLC.

 

Backed by individuals, MicroSence has raised approximately $3.8 million to date. The company is seeking $5 million in Series A funding, said a spokesperson, to be spent on product development, clinical trials, and regulatory trials. The new funding round is expected to close by the second quarter of 2002, after the first clinical trials are concluded.  If everything goes well,  the Pushita device ultimately would resemble an oversized fountain pen, with a pistol grip.  

MicroSense, which expects the Glucose Products to be superior to competing products currently in commercial distribution and under development in both accuracy and convenience, plans to obtain one of the first FDA approvals for a glucose monitor with label indications that allow the patient to permanently replace the blood glucose testing device with the Pusiuta ™ monitor.  

The same technology can be used to monitor cholesterol levels and other potential applications such as spot monitoring for congestive heart failure, kidney disease and clinical depression.

 

View The "New Product" Archives