Category: Diabetes

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Diabetes Sensors Wearables

Smart bandage continuously measures pH and oxygen

Harvard professor Ali Khademhosseini, a doctor at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, is developing a smart bandage that determines a wound’s healing progress and distributes medicine accordingly.

The prototype bandage looks like rubber, and has visible sensors tracking pH balance (for bacterial infection), and oxygen, automatically delivering oxygen or antibiotics topically.  Diabetic foot ulcers might be better treated this way.

ApplySci described a related, oxygen measuring, transparent liquid bandage in October 2014.

Wearable Tech + Digital Health NYC 2015 – June 30 @ New York Academy of Sciences

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Diabetes

“Smart” insulin activates when blood sugar rises

University of Utah‘s Danny Chou has created Ins-PBA-F,  a “smart” insulin which automatically adjusted blood sugar in mice with type 1 diabetes.  In a recent study, the insulin worked for 14 hours.  The team believes that it could be used in humans, which will require further research.

Ins-PBA-F consists of a long-acting insulin derivative with a chemical component called phenylboronic acid  added to one end.  It works by binding to serum proteins that circulate in the bloodstream, blocking activity. When blood sugar levels rise, glucose sugars bind to PBA, prompting the release of Ins-PBA-F.  Chou summarized, “Basically, we put a ‘glucose sensor’ on the regular insulin molecule so that the modified insulin could sense glucose.”

Wearable Tech + Digital Health NYC 2015 – June 30 @ New York Academy of Sciences

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Apps Data Diabetes Wearables

Apple watch will track glucose

The forthcoming Apple Watch will include the DexCom glucose tracking app.  To use it, a tiny sensor must be placed under the skin to measure glucose levels every five minutes.  Results will be displayed on the watch with a simple graph.

While DexCom has FDA approval, due to recent a recent FDA clarification on wearable devices, other health apps can be included, and this will remain a “Low Risk” device, not requiring prior marketing approval.  This is great news for both device makers and consumers, as it will inspire a proliferation of health apps.  ApplySci hopes that the competition will ensure that the most accurate health trackers become the most popular, and will continue to curate this movement with that goal.

Wearable Tech + Digital Health NYC 2015 – June 30 @ New York Academy of Sciences.

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Diabetes Sensors Wearables

Noninvasive sensor tattoo detects glucose levels

UC San Diego professor Joseph Wang has developed an ultra-thin, flexible device that sticks to skin like a tattoo and can detect glucose levels.  The sensor  has the potential to eliminate finger-pricking for diabetes.

The wearable, non-irritating sensor tattoo can detect glucose in the fluid just under the skin.  It is based on integrating glucose extraction and electrochemical biosensing.  Testing on seven volunteers showed  that it was able to accurately determine glucose levels. The sensor response correlated with that of a commercial glucose monitor.

Noninvasive monitoring will be one of the disruptive innovations discussed at  Wearable Tech + Digital Health NYC 2015:  The health sensor revoltion on June 30, 2015 at the New York Academy of Sciences.

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Brain Cancer Diabetes

Single blood drop to detect dozens of diseases

HealthTell is another single blood drop home diagnosis device.  ApplySci described Dr. Eugene Chan‘s Nokia X prize winning similar system  last month.

HealthTell claims to detect disease by monitoring the body’s immune response.  Infection antibodies are detected with a peptide built semiconductor wafer. When a few drops of blood hit the surface, antibodies stick to the peptides in patterns that can show characteristics of specific diseases (after analysis). Human and mice studies have shown that the technology might detect lupus, valley fever, Alzheimer’s disease, brain cancer, pancreatic cancer, and Type 2 diabetes.

Theranos, another promising, single blood drop, self diagnosis system, tests for antigens for certain cancers, hepatitides, cholesterol, and dozens of diseases. It has been embraced by investors, raising $400 million to date.  Little has been published about the Theranos system in scientific journals, while HealthTell has published 20 peer reviewed articles.

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Diabetes Sensors

Blood vessel aging sensor detects diabetes, arteriosclerosis early

Sharp‘s prototype “Blood Vessel Aging Degree Sensor” can detect diabetes, arteriosclerosis or other diseases at an early stage.

The sensor quantifies the accumulation of advanced glycation end products  (protein saccharified in blood vessels  known to correlate with blood glucose level). AGEs are thought to cause several diseases including diabetes, dementia, cancers, high blood pressure, and arteriosclerosis. The sensor applies blue-violet light to finger veins and quantifies the accumulation of AGEs in the veins by using the autofluorescence of the AGEs.

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Diabetes Sensors

“Smart bandage” changes color as wounds heal

Harvard Medical School professor Conor L. Evans has developed a transparent liquid bandage that does not need to be removed to check oxygen levels.  Its phosphors glow red when a wound isn’t getting enough oxygen, and green when it is.  The glowing effect is triggered by a light source that can be captured with a smartphone camera.  The bandage can also map oxygen supply across a wound.

Diabetics with chronic wounds, burn patients, and those with tissue transplants can immediately benefit from the technology.

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Diabetes Sensors Wearables

Prick-free continuous glucose monitor

Abbott’s FreeStyle Libre Flash Glucose Monitoring System eliminates finger pricking for diabetics.  The insertion of a tube under the skin is required, therefore the procedure, while continuous and comfortable, is still invasive.

A user wears a sensor on the back of the upper arm,  and through a small tube inserted just under the skin, it measures blood sugar levels of tissue fluid.  A reader is scanned over the sensor, and results are reported in less than one second.  Real-time results, a historical trend and the direction the glucose is heading are displayed, so the user can adjust insulin intake . Disposable and water resistant, the sensor can be worn for up to two weeks

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Diabetes

“Bionic” pancreas passes initial tests

A wearable “artificial pancreas” passed initial tests, constantly monitoring blood sugar and automatically giving insulin or a sugar-boosting drug as needed.  The experimental device is being developed by Boston University professor Edward Damiano, Mass General doctor Steven Russell, and colleagues.

The “bionic” pancreas improved blood-sugar control more than standard monitors and insulin pumps when tested for 5 days on 20 adults and 32 teens. Unlike other artificial pancreases in development, this one can also fix too-low sugar, mimicking a natural pancreas.

It has three parts: two cellphone-sized pumps for insulin and sugar-raising glucagon, and an iPhone wired to a continuous glucose monitor. Three small needles go under the skin, usually in the belly, to connect patients to the components, which can be kept in a pocket.

Patients must still prick their fingers to test blood sugar twice a day to make sure the monitor is accurate, but the system administers insulin or glucagon as needed.

A study of 40 adults, over 11 days, begins Monday.   Within 6 months, researchers hope to have a next-generation version combining all three components in one device.  It will be tested in studies next year, with the goal of FDA approval.

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Diabetes Heart Sensors

Piezoelectric nanoribbons power pacemakers

http://news.cnet.com/8301-11386_3-57617483-76/nanoribbons-let-beating-hearts-power-their-own-pacemakers/

Scientists are studying various steady energy source alternatives for small biomedical sensors, including piezoelectric power.

University of Illinois researchers have attached small, flexible strips (piezoelectric nanoribbons) to internal organs of animals, and harvested energy from their movement  to power pacemakers and other medical devices.  Current practice depends on hard-to-change batteries.

This is a minimally invasive power source, which in the future can be activated by muscle activity other than the heart muscle, with potential implications for glucose pumps and other devices.  The researchers claim that their system is a  “complete, flexible, and integrated system that is capable of harvesting and storing energy from the natural contractile and relaxation motions of the heart, lung, and diaphragm at levels that meet requirements for practical applications.”

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Diabetes mHealth Monitoring Sensors

Smart contact lens prototype to monitor glucose

http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2014/01/introducing-our-smart-contact-lens.html

Google is testing a smart contact lens that’s built to measure glucose levels in tears.  It uses a tiny wireless chip and miniaturized glucose sensor embedded between two layers of soft contact lens material. The prototype can generate a reading once per second. They are investigating the potential of integrating tiny LED lights that could light up to indicate that glucose levels have crossed above or below thresholds.  Google says it is working with the FDA to turn the prototypes into products.

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Diabetes Monitoring Nanotubes Sensors

Implanted nanotube sensor monitors health for up to one year

http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/2013/new-implantable-sensor-1103.html

MIT scientists are developing injectable and embeddable carbon nanotube sensors that can monitor blood sugar levels, inflammation, and other health issues.  The continuous monitor can stay in a person’s body for up to a year.

Researcher Nicole Iverson wrapped carbon nanotubes in DNA sensitive to nitric oxide and made two types of sensors.  One is injectable for short-term monitoring of problems such as a reaction during surgery.  The other is implanted for long-term monitoring of cancer, diabetes or immune reactions to artificial joints.

The next step will be to link the nanotube sensor to a medical device, such as an insulin pump. The sensor would be implanted under a person’s skin, detecting blood glucose levels. The nanotubes would fluoresce when exposed to certain levels of glucose, and the light could signal the pump to start working and release insulin.