Most of us living with diabetes for more than a year or two have become pretty practical. Which is to say, skeptical. We’re not jumping up and down anymore every time we hear of some “revolutionary” new treatment that’s supposedly going to transform our lives. Because we know this transformation’s gonna be a loooong time coming.
Take non-invasive glucose monitoring (blood glucose testing without pricking the skin), for example. You would’ve thought, with the rapid-fire pace of technology development, that we’d have something viable for everyday-life use by now. Nope. We’re still stuck in the realm of possibilities, it seems, as evidenced by some stuff displayed yet again at this year’s ADA Conference Expo:
* The Scout™, from VeraLight, now spiffied up in purple. Investigational, and not yet approved for use in the United States. Not to mention obviously not meant to be a portable-by-patient system. Uses proprietary fluorescence spectroscopic technology to act as a “diabetes odometer.” The company says it outperforms both the fasting plasma glucose (FPG) test and the A1C test as a rapid and non-invasive screen for pre-diabetes and Type 2 diabetes. K…
* Glucolight, another hospital-based monitor using a beam of light on the skin to display a patient’s blood glucose levels in real time on an easy-to-read LCD touch screen. The company notes that blood glucose levels are indeed “the next vital sign,” with elevated levels linked to complications for all patients following surgery. Intensive glucose control has been shown to decrease deaths and reduce infections in acute care patients (!) This one’s currently in clinical trials, and if all goes well, will be approved for regular use in the intensive care unit by 2008.
* OrSense, which uses red near-infrared “occlusion spectroscopy technology” (in a ring-shaped probe around your finger) to collect data every 10-15 minutes. The system measures
glucose, hemoglobin, and oxygen saturation. You can learn a bit about how it works HERE. This one received European CE Mark approval for its NBM-200G system on June 20. It is now being “evaluated in a variety of settings,” including testing patients in a “home-like” environment, according to the company literature. Which is encouraging, I guess, since it seems that for the immediate future, we’ll otherwise have to land in the hospital to get a taste of glucose monitoring without the bleeding.
How ironic.
Whatever happened to the ‘smart tattoo,’ btw?
That tatoo sounds hilarious to me…think it comes in a butterfly design? Or maybe a heart, dagger, and “MOM” combo?
John L. Smith has written an excellent book that reviews non-invasive glucose monitors and the problems they have in getting them to work. The book can be found on Davide Medosa’s website: http://mendosa.com/meters.htm
After reading the book, I am not too hopeful that we’ll see any non-invasive meter in the near future.
What I think there is hope for is some sort of warning if glucose gets too low or too high at night. That’d be worth $1000 to me.
Tom, have you considered a continuous glucose monitor? I haven’t used any of the others, but the one put out by Minimed will alarm when you go too high or low. And it’s funny that you should mention $1000….
I remember 4 years ago when I was diagnosed, I was so happy because I was hearing about inhaled insulin and bracelets that would monitor my sugar… but today I’m still using my 1cc needles, my one touch.. maybe for future generations ?
That tattoo should would be cool if it worked. I’d be all over it!
That Orsense looks like it could be highly useful to the diabetic endurance athlete! Blood Glucose management on a long ride can be an issue for me, as well as muscle and liver glycogen.