Non-invasive Glucose Monitor, Under Works at Freedom Meditech

Filed in archive Developments , News , Research on March 28, 2007

Currently, the method for measuring blood sugar (glucose) levels in diabetic people is the finger-prick method.

I'm no diabetic but I hate needles or anything that would prick me in the finger or anywhere else in my body. So, imagine finger-pricks on a regular basis in diabetics, because sugar levels need to be monitored: I imagine inconvenience and pain.

Anyway, according to the American Diabetes Association, there are about 14.6 million Americans diagnosed with diabetes - that many, suffering the ordeals of the finger-prick.

In the future, the San Diego-based medical device company Freedom Meditech would like diabetics to say goodbye to the ouch from the pricks by offering an alternative method.

The company has licensed a technology from the University of Toledo that enables measurement of blood sugar levels through the eye instead of the finger.

Not a prick in the eye (which would be more awful than in the finger!) but something like a set of small binoculars that scans the eye's aqueous humor - the liquid between the lens and the cornea, using a polarized laser that detects signs of instability. Based on the findings, the "scanner" would read out a reading that would correspond to glucose levels.

This device is currently under development at Freedom Meditech, working on a USFDA application and if the company secured enough finances, the device will be in the market in the next four to five years.

According to Craig Misrach, president and CEO of Freedom Meditech:

"Hopefully investors are paying attention. The data received from that was basically within guidelines expected for FDA approval.

We're cognizant there've been numerous attempts made in these fields over the years. But the data we've received, to date, shows us that our technology is a viable solution."

Read the full report.