Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology are developing a device that monitors glucose using light pulses rather than finger pricks.
Under development for 15 years, the laptop-sized device relies on Raman spectroscopy, a technology capable of analyzing chemical compounds on the basis of their molecular vibration, according to a report in CNET News. Near-infrared light is flashed into the skin, penetrating about a half a millimeter. Though not deep enough to draw blood, the light travels just far enough to reach the interstital fluid surrounding skin cells, from which glucose can be measured.
There is a lag of up to 10 minutes between the time it takes glucose to spike in the bloodstream and its spike in the fluid, but the MIT researchers are trying to account for that through an algorithm for predicting blood glucose based on measurements of interstitial fluid glucose.
The researchers carried out a small study on human volunteers and plan another this fall, CNET also reports. The technique is described more fully in a recent edition of Analytical Chemistry.
To receive free news updates from Diabetes News Hound delivered straight to your Inbox, sign up here.
If you already receive the free Alerts, spread the word by telling a friend to sign up here.
