A simple patch instead of a needle to measure blood sugar. This is the approach proposed by Koreans. Their device measures the level of glucose in perspiration.
For patients with type 1 diabetes, the artificial pancreas promises to be a major breakthrough. Devices are currently being tested around the world, involving an insulin pump, a glucose sensor and a smartphone app. Korean researchers may have found a way to further simplify drug delivery for patients with type 2 diabetes. While their work is still at a very early stage, the approach presented in Nature Nanotechnology looks promising.
Glucose and pH
The device developed by the team at the Institute for Basic Science, located in South Korea, is worn on the wrist. It is a dermal patch that analyzes blood sugar. But instead of placing the sensors under the skin using fine needles, it measures the level of glucose in the sweat. The approach is therefore less invasive.
The sensors accumulate moisture exuded from the pores of the skin. “It takes an average of 15 minutes for the sweat harvest on the patch to reach 80% relative humidity, at which point glucose and pH measurements are initiated,” explains Kim Dae-Hyeong, co-author of the ‘study.
Results to be confirmed
It is from these measurements in the perspiration that the device calculates whether or not an antidiabetic should be administered, via small flexible needles. A first feasibility study was carried out on two healthy patients. In these men, the system was able to reliably detect changes in blood sugar and deliver metformin if needed. The results were similar in diabetic mice.
The choice of this molecule, administered as a first-line treatment in type 2 diabetes, is not trivial. “Treatment with metformin is more effective percutaneously than digestive, because the drug is directly introduced into the metabolic circulation through the skin,” said Kim Dae-Hyeong. It will now be necessary to confirm these results on larger samples, but also to widen the field of application of this patch. Because rare are the diabetic patients who manage to be satisfied with metformin throughout their disease.
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