Blood Glucose Measurements Can Be Made From Tears

A new sensor would enable people to draw tear fluid from their eyes to get a glucose-level test sample.

Glucose in tear fluid may give an indication of glucose levels in the blood as accurately as a test using a blood sample.

The technology was designed by bioengineer Jeffrey T. LaBelle, a professor in the School of Biological and Health Systems Engineering, one of the Arizona State University (Tempe, AZ, USA) Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering.

Prof. LaBelle is leading the ASU-Mayo team along with Mayo Clinic (Scottsdale, AZ, USA) physicians Curtiss B. Cook, MD, an endocrinologist, and Dharmendra (Dave) Patel, MD, chair of Mayo's Department of Surgical Ophthalmology.

Many people with diabetes suffer due to the difficulty of managing their blood glucose levels. It is recommended that they monitor their own glucose levels, but current monitoring devices typically require patients to perform the painful task of pricking their finger to draw blood for a test sample —and many patients must do it several times each day.

"This new technology might encourage patients to check their blood sugars more often, which could lead to better control of their diabetes by a simple touch to the eye," said bioengineer Jeffrey T. LaBelle.

The major challenges are performing the test quickly, efficiently, with reproducible results, without letting the test sample evaporate and without stimulating a stress response that causes people to rub their eyes intensely, Prof. LaBelle said.

Because of its potential impact on health care, the technology has drawn interest from BioAccel (Phoenix, AZ, USA), an Arizona nonprofit that works to accelerate efforts to bring biomedical technologies to the marketplace.

"With funding provided by BioAccel, the scientific team will conduct critical experiments to determine how well the new device correlates with use of the current technology that uses blood sampling," said Ron King, BioAccel's chief scientific and business officer.

Related Links:
Arizona State University
Mayo Clinic
BioAccel