Abstract
A mid-infrared attenuated total reflection (ATR) spectroscopy system employing hollow optical fibers and a trapezoidal multi-reflection ATR prism has been developed to measure blood glucose levels. Using a multi-reflection prism brought about higher sensitivity, and the flat and wide contact surface of the prism resulted in higher measurement reproducibility. An analysis of in vivo measurements of human inner lip mucosa revealed clear signatures of glucose in the difference spectra between ones taken during the fasting state and ones taken after ingestion of glucose solutions. A calibration plot based on the absorption peak at 1155 cm(-1) that originates from the pyranose ring structure of glucose gave measurement errors less than 20%.
Highlights
A non-invasive device for monitoring blood glucose level is highly desired [1,2,3] because it would eliminate the pain and infection risk associated with the commonly used glucose monitoring devices that measure electrochemical properties of blood taken from a fingertip
Glucose measurement systems based on infrared spectroscopy usually use an attenuated total reflection (ATR) prism to deal with the small penetration depth of mid-infrared light
These difference spectra should correspond to absorption of only glucose and can reduce errors caused by other components in human tissues such as water, carbon hydrate, protein, and sugars that do not change with the blood glucose level
Summary
A non-invasive device for monitoring blood glucose level is highly desired [1,2,3] because it would eliminate the pain and infection risk associated with the commonly used glucose monitoring devices that measure electrochemical properties of blood taken from a fingertip. Various blood glucose measurement methods based on near-infrared absorption spectroscopy have been proposed [4,5,6] and some products using them have been marketed, all have problems with regard to accuracy and reliability [7] They detect harmonic overtones of molecular vibrations of glucose appearing in the near-infrared region that are buried in the overtone peaks of other components (water, blood, protein, etc.) because the concentration and the absorption coefficient of glucose in this region are much lower than those of other components. In most ATR measurement systems, the prism is in a rather bulky housing, so the area that can be measured is usually limited to skin surfaces such as the fingertip, which has a thick stratum corneum This layer makes it difficult for infrared light to penetrate deeper tissues. The increase in the number of reflections brings about higher sensitivity, and the flat and wide contact surface of the prism results in higher measurement reproducibility
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