A new device developed at MIT may make life easier for people with diabetes by helping them check their blood sugar levels without using needles.
This noninvasive method could save patients from having to prick their fingers multiple times a day, a task that can be painful and inconvenient.
The MIT research team used a technique called Raman spectroscopy, which uses light to study the chemical makeup of the skin, to create a device that can measure blood sugar without drawing blood.
The current version of the device is about the size of a shoebox. While it’s too big to wear, the team has already created a smaller version and is testing it on volunteers.
In a recent study, researchers tested the device on a healthy person and compared the results with two commercial glucose monitors that require a small wire to be placed under the skin.
They found that their new device gave results similar to those commercial monitors, without needing to break the skin. This is important because many people with diabetes don’t check their blood sugar as often as they should, since pricking fingers or wearing sensors can be uncomfortable.
The study was published in the journal Analytical Chemistry. Jeon Woong Kang, a senior scientist at MIT, said this new technology could benefit almost all diabetes patients if it proves to be accurate and reliable.
Arianna Bresci, a postdoc at MIT, was the lead author of the study. Other researchers from MIT and the South Korean company Apollon Inc. also contributed.
Currently, many people with diabetes either use finger-prick tests or wear sensors under their skin to track glucose levels.
While the sensors offer ongoing monitoring, they can irritate the skin and need to be changed every 10 to 15 days. MIT’s researchers wanted to develop a more comfortable option that people could use regularly without any skin irritation.
Their device works by shining near-infrared light onto the skin and measuring how the light scatters. This scattering tells scientists what molecules are present.
Although this method has been explored before, earlier versions of the technology had trouble separating the glucose signal from all the other signals in the skin. The MIT team found a way to fix this by changing the angle of the light, which helped them pick up the glucose signal more clearly.
Instead of analyzing the entire Raman spectrum, which has around 1,000 bands, the researchers found that they could focus on just three important bands. This allowed them to shrink the size of the equipment and reduce costs while still getting accurate readings.
In a clinical test at MIT, a healthy volunteer used the device over a four-hour period. They drank two glucose-rich beverages during the test, and the researchers recorded changes in blood sugar every five minutes. Each test took a little over 30 seconds. The results were very close to those of two commercial invasive monitors worn by the participant.
Since that study, the MIT team has made a smaller prototype about the size of a cellphone. They are now testing it as a wearable device in both healthy and prediabetic volunteers. Next year, they plan a larger study with people who have diabetes, in partnership with a local hospital.
The team also hopes to make the device even smaller—possibly as small as a wristwatch. Another goal is to make sure the device gives accurate readings for people with different skin tones, which will be important for widespread use.
This invention has the potential to transform diabetes care by offering a painless, easy way to monitor blood sugar. If successful, it could help millions of people manage their diabetes more effectively and avoid complications.
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