Scientists are developing an electrochemical sensor device that has the potential to measure blood sugar levels from tears instead of blood, an advance that could save millions of diabetes patients from painful pricking tests.
In a report that appeared in ACS’ journal Analytical Chemistry, researcher Mark Meyerhoff and colleagues explained that about 5 percent of the world’s population have diabetes.
There is ongoing effort to develop technologies to monitor glucose without the need of pricking your finger. Some of the technologies include, transdermal device, Raman spectroscopy through skin, fluorescent hydrogel, etc. Scientists have successfully developed an electrochemical sensor device that can measure blood sugar levels from tears instead of blood. This could save the world’s 350 million diabetes patients the discomfort of pricking their fingers for droplets of blood used in traditional blood sugar tests. A report appears in ACS journal Analytical Chemistry.
Scientists at the University of Michigan have developed an electrochemical glucometer that has shown good results comparable to traditional blood glucose testing, but uses only 4–5 μL of tears. An amperometric needle-type electrochemical glucose sensor is deployed for tear glucose measurements in conjunction with a 0.84 mm i.d. capillary tube to collect microlitre volumes of tear fluid.
This technology is an effort to reduce pain out of diabetic patients from pricking their fingers. Are you thinking would you rather cry by pricking your finger or to product tear to perform this tear test?
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