Novel device measures sugar level without blood

Blood sampling to determine the sugar value is soon a thing of the past

12/10/2013

For diabetics, there will be a new way to determine their blood sugar in the near future. So far, the seven million sufferers have regularly check with their family doctor blood. Often, a health check will diagnose diabetes without any symptoms suggesting it. Sometimes sufferers already suffer years of the disease. This can become all the more dangerous, the longer diabetes remains undetected and consequential diseases develop.

Type 2 diabetes is most prevalent
Of the four different types of diabetes, type 1 and type 2 are the most prevalent, with about 90 percent of sufferers in Germany suffering from type 2 diabetes. This is characterized by the fact that the pancreas produces more insulin than is necessary and by the resulting good metabolism, there is a tendency to overgrowth in most cases. On the other hand, Type 1 patients need to deliver vital insulin to the body. They are unable to produce insulin themselves due to a misguided immune response.

Regular bloodletting soon history
With the regular bloodletting it could be over in two years. The medical device manufacturer Bluepoint Medical Selmsdorf and the University of Rostock are collaborating to develop an optical blood glucose meter that will be available to diabetics by the end of 2015. That only „thimble“-large device can determine the long-term sugar value by means of infrared light and photodetectors without the need for a drop of blood, said the Bluepoint Managing Director Bernd Lindner. By determining the glycohemoglobin value in the blood, diabetics receive reliable information about the blood glucose values ​​of the last eight weeks. Without checking the blood glucose value, diabetics are threatened with serious health problems. It can be a heart attack, kidney failure or even the loss of vision, as a spokesman for the Ministry of Commerce announced. In the development of this new device, a total of 838,000 euros in research funds flowed, of which 669,000 euros from the EU Regional Development Fund.

Measurement of blood glucose levels via saliva
A year ago, researchers at Purdue University in America also developed a device that measures glucose levels using a saliva sample. In this device, the blood glucose value is determined by means of the glucose oxidase enzyme in combination with platinum nanoparticles. However, experts criticize that a salivary measurement is not as accurate as a measurement with blood, because the glucose level rises in the blood immediately after the ingestion of glucose. In saliva, but also in urine, these values ​​can only be determined with a time delay. But for a short-term measurement, such as after eating a sugar-rich food, diabetics must be able to quickly determine what amount of insulin must be injected. This saliva sensor is just as impossible as with a photo sensor from Rostock. (Fr)