Tear Checks Can Replace Blood for Blood Sugar Levels

Scientists and doctors continue to work for years to find a painless way of measuring blood sugar levels. Now a new study found the idea of using tears and not blood.

A sensor developed by researchers from the University of Michigan can detect levels of sugar or glucose in tears. The results of this study was published 9 November in the journal Analytical Chemistry.

In a study conducted on 12 rabbits these investigators showed that the levels of glucose in tears correlated with glucose levels in the blood.

People with diabetes are known to have glucose levels that are too much in the blood, which could be due to pancreas stops producing insulin or the cells in the body that are resistant to insulin. This condition makes the body unable to absorb sugar from the bloodstream.

"People with diabetes need to measure many times his blood sugar levels, because its value can change throughout the day," said Dr. George Grunberger of the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists, as quoted by LiveScience, Friday (11/11/2011).

In this study Jeffrey LaBelle, biomedical engineers from Arizona State University in collaboration with researchers at the Mayo Clinic to develop technology monitoring of glucose in tears.



The goal is to make sensors that can be touched in the eyes of the white for 5 seconds and then pressed into a device that is designed to read glucose levels. This test may have the advantage of convenience rather than a blood test.

The level of glucose in tears unknown 30 times lower than in the blood, for that the experts are developing sensors that can work with very sensitive so it can generate accurate data on the small amount of fluid.

"The main challenge is evaporation, lower concentrations, and glucose including stress responder, which means it is difficult to get accurate pembacan if the eyes are under stress," says LaBelle.

That requires a highly sensitive sensors, as well as a certain ratio between glucose in blood and tears so that everyone can calibrate the sensor to the tears of blood glucose levels

Posted in: Health

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