Researchers at MIT Developing Non-Invasive Blood Sugar Test for Diabetics

What Happened?

Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have developed a non-invasive glucose monitor that can measure blood sugar without using needles. The new device relies on blood glucose sensing technology that utilizes near-infrared light to scan tissue in your skin and accurately measure blood sugar.

According to New Atlas, the non-invasive Raman microscopy-based system currently requires individuals to put their arm atop a shoebox-sized device and wait less than a minute for the scan to be completed. The device is currently undergoing clinical studies, and if successful, will move on to tests involving patients with diabetes. 

Why it Matters

Diabetes is one of the most common chronic illnesses in the United States, and for sufferers of that condition, early detection is the key to cheaper and more effective treatment. Presently, if someone with diabetes wants to monitor their blood sugar levels, they must endure several needle pricks per day so that direct blood samples can provide that information. Not surprisingly, the discomfort of the test discourages some from blood sugar monitoring, leaving them more vulnerable to having their condition worsen without their awareness.

When the body cannot use insulin or the pancreas does not manufacture enough insulin to regulate the amount of blood sugar in a person’s system, those levels can increase or decrease to unhealthy concentrations, which can have severe effects on the health of the body. Blood sugar levels that get too high or too low can be life-threatening and are typically accompanied by a variety of symptoms which manifest physically. With blood sugar monitoring, deficiencies or excesses of blood sugar levels can be identified and corrected before they become life-threatening.

Needle jabs are considered invasive because they forcibly enter a portion of the body, in this case, through the skin. Non-invasive procedures do not require breaking the skin or entering the body, which generally makes them more comfortable for the recipient or patient. Reducing discomfort may sound trite, but if it leads to more consistent blood sugar monitoring by more people with diabetes, it could save lives and drastically reduce health care costs.

Once blood sugar levels become high or low enough to cause symptoms or threaten the life of the individual, treatment is often less effective and more expensive. Instead of costly trips to the emergency room, better monitoring could enable those with diabetes to detect blood sugar changes and resolve them quickly and inexpensively before they become debilitating or life threatening.

How it Affects You

In addition to a more comfortable way to monitor blood sugar levels, the infrared method would mean those with diabetes would not need to get new needles on a daily basis. The new MIT device is likely still at least a year away from being commercially available, but the prospect is still good news for the nearly forty million diabetes sufferers in the United States alone.