Novel electronic device painless technology can easily measure patient’s blood sugar

German researchers have developed an innovative method to measure blood sugar levels in people with diabetes. One of the keys to healthy people with type 1 and type 2 diabetes is monitoring blood sugar levels to make sure they remain stable.

People can do this easily and reliably at home using an Electronic device that reads the sugar level in a small drop of blood. Now, scientists at the Johann Wolfgang Goethe University Institute for Biophysics and a German industrial company have devised a novel, non-invasive method to simplify monitoring.

By using an infrared laser applied to the top of the skin, they can measure the amount of sugar in the fluid inside and below skin cells to read blood sugar levels.

Their method uses photoacoustic spectroscopy to measure glucose through mid-infrared light absorption. The external painless laser pulses were absorbed by the glucose molecules, which were absorbed by the glucose molecules and produced a measurable sound signature, which the researchers dubbed the “sweet melody of glucose.” The signal allowed the researchers to detect glucose in skin fluids within seconds.

“The data showing skin cell glucose levels below one-hundredth percent of the skin correlates with blood sugar levels, but previous attempts to use photoacoustic spectroscopy in this way have been hampered by distortions associated with barometric pressure, temperature and temperature changes.” Moisture from contact with living skin,” explains Dr. Werner Möntele, senior author of the paper published in Review of Scientific Instruments.

To overcome these limitations, the scientists devised a design innovation for an open windowless cell architecture. Although it’s still experimental and must be tested and approved by regulators before it can be commercialized, they’re still refining it. Working closely with industry partners, they hope to have a small shoebox-sized device ready within three years, followed by a portable blood glucose meter in a few years.