Non-Invasive Blood Glucose Monitoring using Visible Laser Light

Abstract

Diabetes Mellitus is a widely spreading disease worldwide which claims millions of lives every year. Blood glucose monitor is vital for keeping daily track of blood glucose levels and helps in the routine management of diabetes. Current blood glucose monitoring methods mainly involve finger pricks which leads to pain, puncture of skin, inconvenience and causes prone to infections. The costs of disposable test strips and the unavailability of reliable non-invasive glucose monitors are also the challenges in blood glucose monitoring regimen. Recently introduced minimally invasive blood glucose monitors have limited lifespan, unstable accuracy and require invasive methods for regular calibration. Therefore, there is a need to develop a reliable non-invasive blood glucose monitor that addresses the existing challenges. In this project work, we focused on the development of non-invasive blood glucose monitor using visible laser light of 650nm wavelength. In the initial stage, in vitro, experimental measurements were performed using laser based non-invasive blood glucose monitor module to ensure the sensitivity of the system to glucose concentrations. Then, fasting and postprandial in vivo measurements were conducted using the laser based non-invasive blood glucose monitor module integrated with Lab VIEW data acquisition system in the form of voltage output. The in vivo voltage output results were compared with Accu-check glucose monitor measurements which have shown good linearity. Finally, laser based non-invasive blood glucose monitor prototype was developed. This work involved 11 volunteer subjects and 18 different measurements for in vivo blood glucose measurement. The in vitro measurement results have shown an overall linearity of 96% while in vivo results had an overall linearity of 94.1% compared with Accu-check active blood glucose monitor measurements. The results are promising and show the potential use of 650nm visible laser light for blood glucose monitoring.