By Adam Garcia
Today in Diabetic Technology, we will be discussing a new high-tech medical twist on an ancient art. The most reliable way to measure blood sugar, at this time, is by pricking the finger for a tiny blood sample and using enzyme-laden test strips to detect glucose. According to Technology Review by MIT, a novel, innovative nanosensor could be used for skin-based glucose sensing. Contemplate having a tattoo that allows you to monitor your glucose by using a device similar to a wireless optical mouse.
Draper Laboratory scientists, in Cambridge, Massachusetts, are developing a nanosensor that could be injected into the skin, much like tattoo dye, to monitor an individual’s blood-sugar level. As the glucose level increases, the “tattoo” would fluoresce under an infrared light, telling a diabetic whether or not they need an insulin shot following a meal. The researchers have already tested a sodium-sensing version of the device in rodents, and will soon begin animal tests of the glucose-specific sensor.
When injected into the skin, the sensor molecule pulls the target chemical into the polymer from the interstitial fluid, which surrounds cells. To compensate for the newly acquired positive charge of a sodium ion, a dye molecule releases a positive ion, making the molecule fluoresce. The level of fluorescence increases with the concentration of the chemical target. Scientists can swap in different recognition molecules to measure different targets, including chloride, calcium, sodium, and glucose. The range of concentrations that the sensor can detect can be varied by altering the ratio of the components, depending on whether it is important to measure precise concentrations or more broad variability.
The sodium sensor, which could one day be used to monitor dehydration, has shown early success in animals. When injected into rodents’ skin, the beads stay put and fluoresce in response to saline injections. The researchers have developed a glucose sensor that works via a similar mechanism. It has been shown to work in a solution but has not yet been tested in animals.
Envision this Diabetic Technology in the long term. A sensor that would be injected into the surface layers of the skin, shallower than tattoo inks so that it sheds off over time. A fluorescence monitor, resembling an optical mouse, would then be used to measure the light emitted by the tattoo, and the sensor would be reinjected periodically.
This Diabetic Technology is unique because it doesn’t have any components to be used up. Glucose strips, for example, use an enzyme to detect glucose, which needs to be continually replaced. However, even nanosensors have a limited lifetime, which makes implanting them difficult. Still, the researchers have a long way to go before the sensor is ready for human testing. The beads didn’t appear to trigger an immune reaction in initial animal tests; nevertheless, more studies need to be done.
Click here to watch the effect of sodium rushing into heart-muscle cells below.
If you find other innovative diabetic technology that may be in the near future email us or leave a comment or question below.
