Non-invasive Blood Glucose Measurement Research Articles

Advances in Photoacoustic Noninvasive Glucose Testing

We report here on in vitro and in vivo experiments that are intended to explore the feasibility of photoacoustic spectroscopy as a tool for the noninvasive measurement of blood glucose. The in vivo results from oral glucose tests on eight subjects showed good correlation with clinical measurements but indicated that physiological factors and person-to-person variability are important. In vitro measurements showed that the sensitivity of the glucose measurement is unaffected by the presence of common blood analytes but that there can be substantial shifts in baseline values. The results indicate the need for spectroscopic data to develop algorithms for the detection of glucose in the presence of other analytes.

Phantom glucose calibration models from simulated noninvasive human near-infrared spectra.

The validity of published reports claiming to have successfully measured in vivo blood glucose from noninvasive near-infrared spectra collected in a time-dependent manner is challenged on the basis of results obtained from a phantom glucose spectral data set. An in vitro model is used to simulate noninvasive human near-IR spectra. The phantom glucose data set is created by purposely omitting glucose in these modeled samples. Glucose values are then assigned to successive phantom glucose spectra, and multivariate calibration models are generated for glucose based on partial-least squares regression. As expected, calibration models are incapable of predicting glucose values when the glucose assignments are made randomly. Apparently functional models are obtained, however, when glucose assignments are made in a nonrandom, time-dependent manner. Prediction errors from these nonrandom models are essentially identical to those published by other as evidence of successful noninvasive blood glucose measurements. Chance temporal correlations between assigned glucose concentrations and some uncontrolled experimental parameter are responsible for this apparent model functionality.

Noninvasive Blood Glucose Assay by Near-Infrared Diffuse Reflectance Spectroscopy of the Human Inner Lip

Near-infrared (NIR) spectra of the human inner lip were obtained by using a special optimized accessory for diffuse reflectance measurements. The partial-least squares (PLS) multivariate calibration algorithm was applied for linear regression of the spectral data between 9000 and 5500 cm−1 (Λ = 1.1–1.8 μm) against blood glucose concentrations determined by a standard clinical enzymatic method. Calibration experiments with a single person were carried out under varying conditions, as well as with a population of 133 different patients, with capillary and venous blood glucose concentration values provided. A genuine correlation between the blood glucose concentrations and the NIR-spectra can be proven. A time lag of about 10 min for the glucose concentration in the spectroscopically probed tissue volume vs. the capillary concentration can be estimated. Mean-square prediction errors obtained by cross-validation were in the range of 45 to 55 mg/dL. An analysis of different variance factors showed that the major contribution to the average prediction uncertainty was due to the reduced measurement reproducibility, i.e., variations in lip position and contact pressure. The results demonstrate the feasibility of using diffuse reflectance NIR-spectroscopy for the noninvasive measurement of blood glucose.