Scientists have created a new portable device for diabetics that takes blood glucose measurements by using microwaves instead of pricking the skin.
According to FC News, researchers from Cardiff University's School of Engineering created this new medical device that is only around half the size of a standard smartphone. Via the adhesive on the back, the portable gadget sticks to a patch of skin and then uses microwaves to read the blood glucose level in the diabetic's body.
With the new medical device, diabetics could avoid the pain of up to six pinpricks a day needed with the use of traditional continuous glucose monitors (CGMs). The device emits microwaves that can read blood glucose levels without the need to break the skin.
Professor Adrian Porch, one of the creators of the device, told BBC that the level of microwaves emitted by the device is about a thousand times less than the level of microwaves emitter by a mobile phone and nowhere near the levels used by the domestic microwave ovens. This low level of microwave radiation makes the medical device very safe to use.
The new monitor created by Cardiff University's School of Engineering is non-invasive, and apart from the initial calibration, it does not require the extraction of blood. By using an adhesive, the device can be discreetly stuck on to the side of the body or arm and it will help with the management of diabetes, according to Prof. Porch.
He added that the microwave diabetes monitor, developed with Dr. Heungjae Choi, has also longer shelf life because its action is not chemical. A mobile app or a computer can monitor continuously the data collected by the device.
The device was already used on trial on about 50 patients performed by Prof. Stephen Luzio, at Swansea University's College of Medicine. The trials are part of a clinical research on diabetes and more are planned for this summer.
