April 11, 2017.
Will diabetic patients soon no longer need to prick their fingertips to measure their blood sugar? This is what promises American researchers who have just developed a connected lens capable of calculating, in real time, the sugar level in tears.
A contact lens capable of measuring blood sugar in diabetic patients
Connected objects invade our daily lives and medicine is not forgotten in these scientific advances, quite the contrary. The congress of the American chemical society is the perfect witness to this and among the many scientific innovations that were presented during this event, contact lenses particularly marked the spirits.
These connected lenses, developed by researchers at Oregon State University, have the ability to measure, in real time, the level of glucose in the moisture of the eye. A technological feat that could provide many services to all people with diabetes and who today must regularly prick their fingertips to collect and analyze their blood.
A technology adaptable to many other pathologies
In appearance, these lenses are similar to any contact lens. Transparent, they present no discomfort for the wearer. However, they are made up of microscopic transparent transistors, covered with an enzyme that analyzes the sugar present in the tears of the eye.
This glucose level is then immediately sent, via Wifi or Bluetooth to a dedicated application, on a smartphone or any other computer support. The blood sugar level of a diabetic patient can therefore be observed, in real time, by the patient himself but also by his doctor who can adapt his treatment if necessary.. The inventors of this device are confident and are already thinking about marketing this tool. They even hope to develop this technology for monitoring other pathologies such as liver disease, kidney disease or, why not, cancer.
Sybille Latour
Read also: Soon an artificial pancreas for type 1 diabetics
