In vivo noninvasive measurement of preprandial and postprandial blood glucose using optical coherence tomography

Abstract

Blood glucose concentration measurement is essential for the diagnosis and treatment of diabetes. However, conventional glucose measurement methods are invasive and not suitable for real-time monitoring. This study demonstrated a noninvasive blood glucose measurement method using optical coherence tomography to image human lip in vivo. Optical coherence tomography (OCT) is a noninvasive and depth-resolved technique capable of acquiring tissue structure images in real time. Human lip has very thin skin and is full of blood vessels, which is appropriate for noninvasive glucose measurement. To verify the feasibility of OCT for glucose concentration monitoring, two groups of OCT imaging data were obtained from human lips of normal people. In one group, OCT images of lip were acquired from people on an empty stomach. In the other group, the same sites of lip were observed by OCT 2 hours after breakfast. Evident differences were found from two groups of OCT images that correspond to preprandial glucose and 2- hour postprandial glucose, respectively. The relationship between OCT image and blood glucose concentration was investigated. The result indicates that OCT possesses considerable prospects in terms of noninvasive blood glucose measurement.