A new device can measure blood sugar levels from tears instead of blood
Researchers stated about successful laboratory testing of an electrochemical sensor device that may measure blood sugar levels from tears instead of blood. It will help to save the world's 350 million patients with diabetes from the discomfort of pricking their fingers for droplets of blood used in traditional blood sugar tests.
Mark Meyerhoff and his colleagues said that approximately 5% of the world's population suffers from diabetes. This disease is the most common health problem, because of a sharp global increase in obesity that leads to developing type 2 diabetes.
People with diabetes must monitor their blood glucose levels several times a day to make sure they are within a safe range. Current handheld glucose meters require a drop of blood which patients draw by pricking their fingers with a small pin or lancet. However, for some patients that pinprick is painful enough to avoid regular testing. Therefore Meyerhoff had developed a new, pain-free device that can use tear glucose levels instead of blood sugar levels.
New device tested on laboratory rabbits showed that levels of glucose in tears track the amounts of glucose in the blood. Thus, it will be possible to measure tear glucose levels many times per day to monitor blood glucose changes without the potential pain from the repeated invasive blood drawing method.
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