iPhone app detects blood sugar without drawing blood

July 25, 2011
Researchers at Northeastern University have developed a new way for iPhones to measure blood sugar levels without drawing blood.

Researchers at Northeastern University (Boston, MA) have developed a new way for iPhones to measure blood sugar levels without drawing blood, as reported by MIT Technology Review.

Professor Heather Clark at the Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences at Northeastern modified an iPhone to noninvasively monitor biomarkers to measure blood rather than drawing it. To accomplish this, the system requires a person to be injected with a small amount of nanoparticle solution, which glows when exposed to molecules such as glucose. Then, an iPhone equipped with a battery-powered case, camera lens filter and LED array reads the levels of fluorescence and sends the results to a computer for analysis. In the future, Clark plans to create an iPhone app to analyze nanoparticle data, enabling users to track other biomarkers such as sodium and blood oxygen levels.

Using the modified iPhone system, Clark says thatpeople may also monitor the effects of new drugs in the bloodstream in real time.

With increased demand for medical apps that make healthcare more accessible and economical, other available iPhone apps can analyze stroke victims' brains, read EKG scans, detect malaria and dengue fever, and detect melanoma.

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Posted by Lee Mather

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