Los Angeles, Dec 8 (PTI) Researchers have developed a3D-printed smartphone case and app which could make it easierfor patients to record and track their blood glucose readings.
Checking blood sugar levels can be a hassle for peoplewith diabetes, especially when they have to pack their glucosemonitoring kits around with them every time they leave thehouse.
"Integrating blood glucose sensing into a smartphonewould eliminate the need for patients to carry a separatedevice," said Patrick Mercier, from the University ofCalifornia, San Diego in the US.
"An added benefit is the ability to autonomously store,process and send blood glucose readings from the phone to acare provider or cloud service," Mercier said.
The device, called GPhone, is a new proof-of-conceptportable glucose sensing system.
GPhone has two main parts. One is a slim, 3D printed casethat fits over a smartphone and has a permanent, reusablesensor on one corner.
The second part consists of small, one-time use, enzyme-packed pellets that magnetically attach to the sensor.
The pellets are housed inside a 3D printed stylusattached to the side of the smartphone case.
To run a test, the user would first take the stylus anddispense a pellet onto the sensor - this step activates thesensor.
The user would then drop a blood sample on top. Thesensor measures the blood glucose concentration, thenwirelessly transmits the data via Bluetooth to a custom-designed Android app that displays the numbers on thesmartphone screen.
The test takes about 20 seconds. Afterwards, the usedpellet is discarded, deactivating the sensor until the nexttest. The stylus holds enough pellets for 30 tests before itneeds to be refilled.
A printed circuit board enables the whole system to runoff a smartphone battery.
The pellets contain an enzyme called glucose oxidase thatreacts with glucose. This reaction generates an electricalsignal that can be measured by the sensor's electrodes.
The greater the signal, the higher the glucoseconcentration. The team tested the system on differentsolutions of known glucose concentrations.
The results were accurate throughout multiple tests.
"This system is versatile and can be easily modified todetect other substances for use in healthcare, environmentaland defense applications," said Joseph Wang, from theUniversity of California San Diego.
The system stores a considerable amount of data so thatusers can track their readings over long time periods. PTI SNESARSNE.
This is unedited, unformatted feed from the Press Trust of India wire.