Sensing System with Nanoparticles Tattoo Detects Glucose under the Skin

Professor Michael Strano and Paul Barone, a postdoctoral researcher in the Department of Chemical Engineering at the MIT, are developing a novel blood glucose monitor capable of providing more accurate readings and eliminates the requirement for finger prints.

The glucose sensing system of Strano and Barone incorporates a ‘tattoo’ of nanoparticles capable of detecting glucose that is injected under the skin. A gadget akin to a wristwatch is worn on the tattoo to display the glucose levels of the patient.

The technology behind the MIT sensor is described in a December 2009 issue of
ACS Nano,  According to Strano, this technology is basically different compared to that of current sensors. The sensor is built up on polymer wrapped nanotubes. This polymer is sensitive to concentrations of glucose. The nanotubes fluoresce when the sensor come across s glucose. This can be sensed by focusing near-infrared light on them. The glucose concentration is found out by measuring the quantity of fluorescence.

Currently type I diabetes patients have to prick their fingers quite a few times in a day for testing their blood sugar levels. The task hinders with daily life, even if the pain is minor.
Most of the current continuous glucose sensors function by injecting glucose oxidase, an enzyme that breaks down glucose. An electrode positioned on the skin is able to interact with hydrogen peroxide, the reaction’s by-product, enabling indirect measurement of the glucose levels. However, such sensors have not been approved for more than seven days use at a time.

A study in the ‘New England Journal of Medicine’ in 2008 demonstrated that continuous monitoring was able to help patients suffering from adult type I diabetes patients. Such patients were above 25 years and able to control their blood glucose levels. However, current wearable gadgets are not as accurate compared to the finger-prick test and need recalibration once or twice a day.

According to Strano, diabetes globally, is a huge problem and decades of advances in engineering have not improved upon the primitive ability to measure accurately the glucose content in the human body. He added that it has emerged as a life and death matter for an increasing number of people.

According to Strano the diabetes’ most problematic consequences are due to very short excursions in the blood sugar of a person that is beyond the usual physiological range, following meals for instance. He added that the ability for detecting and preventing such intrusions will help to reduce the harmful effects of the disease.