Determination of the Optimum Test Conditions for Measurement of Glucose Level in Liquids

Abstract

Diabetes is a disease that affects more than 400 million people worldwide and currently lacks a cure. Monitoring blood sugar levels is crucial in minimizing the effects of this disease and protecting against its complications. Invasive and minimally invasive methods are commonly used traditional approaches for detecting and monitoring blood sugar levels. However, these methods bring along psychological and infectious risks. Currently, efforts are being made to develop a non-invasive method for determining blood sugar levels. Microwaves offer the possibility of non-invasive glucose measurement as they do not cause any harmful effects on human tissue. Furthermore, the complex permeability of blood is sensitive to glucose concentration in the microwave band. In literature, most of the studies are done with vector network analyzers (VNA) to detect blood sugar level noninvasively. In this study, an expensive and bulky VNA is replaced by an affordable microwave source and RMS power detector. The influence of the type and diameter of the test tube material used for non-invasive determination of sugar levels is examined with this setup. Additionally, the effect of the distance between the Vivaldi antennas used during measurements and the test tube is investigated. The results indicate that measurements performed using plastic test tubes yield better results compared to glass test tubes. Moreover, reducing the diameter of the test tube leads to improved outcomes. It has been observed that accurate results cannot be obtained if the antennas and the test tube are too close (4.5cm) from each other.