New Glucometer from Purdue Measures Glucose in Tears, Saliva

[Northerner]

As more and more people find themselves diagnosed with diabetes, it is clear that blood glucose sampling with needle pricks is a significant burden on the patient population. That can all change if someone comes up with a better way of finding out a person?s glucose levels.

Researchers at Purdue University may have actually come up with a possible solution that may allow diabetics of the future to use their saliva, tears, or even urine to measure their glucose. The team developed a new sensor that can be cheap to build and that can detect glucose in any of the body?s serums. It is based on petal shaped sheets of stacked graphene that have glucose oxidase enzyme and platinum nanoparticles deposited on its surface. As glucose converts to hydrogen peroxide, a signal is generated at the electrodes where the platinum particles are.

http://medgadget.com/2012/08/new-glucometer-from-purdue-measures-glucose-in-tears-saliva.html

Thought this deserved a general messageboard posting 🙂

 

[ch1ps]

Interesting. The one thing that annoys me is stabbing my fingers to test. Can't keep track of which finger and where I tested last time!

 

[caffeine_demon]

hmmm - it'll be mighty hard for me to produce tears in order to test!! Does the meter come with someone to hit you and tell you sad stories?

 

[Vicsetter]

hmmm - it'll be mighty hard for me to produce tears in order to test!! Does the meter come with someone to hit you and tell you sad stories?

No - you prick your finger until it hurts

 

[everydayupsanddowns]

Interesting! I wonder how responsive those fluids are to changing BG levels?

 

[jalapino]

Sorter makes me laugh about the tear testing....i think we could all cry all the time!!! so no problem there!!!

 

[Klocky]

hmmm - it'll be mighty hard for me to produce tears in order to test!! Does the meter come with someone to hit you and tell you sad stories?

You could always cut onions just prior to testing

 

[margie]

Urine results will show the values from a couple of hours previously so not much use if you are trying to detect a hypo. I don't know how tears or saliva would measure up.

Its an interesting idea though particularly for screening.

 

[MCH]

or even urine to measure their glucose. 🙂

Just like the olden days

 

[Northerner]

Just like the olden days

Perhaps no-one told them! 😱