Control of blood glucose levels through glucose measurement and insulin injection can reduce the occurrence of complications in Type 1 diabetes and those Type 2 diabetics who test their blood glucose daily. Methods such as the "finger-stick" technique, while relatively cheap, can be cumbersome and painful to use. In addition to diabetes, control of blood glucose levels can also play a key role in several important hospital based interventions, not least in intensive care monitoring. A team at the University of Strathclyde has perfected a non-invasive programmable device for measuring blood glucose levels. The same technology can also be adapted to detect other blood circulating molecules such as lactate.
The non-invasive reverse iontophoresis (RI) based transdermal patient monitoring technology is capable of detecting and measuring, either intermittently or continuously, one or more small molecules, e.g. glucose and lactate, in real time. The technique works by extracting small molecules, such as glucose and lactate, from the patient using a small gel electrode situated on the patient's skin. The technology was developed originally as part of a PhD project. This was followed by an Eng. D project in the University's Medical Devices Doctoral Training Centre and resulted in a fully programmable well developed RI device to which screen printed, gel coated electrodes, applicable to patient skin, were attached. Preliminary studies in human volunteers looking at glucose and lactate detection/measurement suggested that the device could accurately and reproducibly detect glucose through the skin. The project has subsequently been funded through Scottish Enterprise's Proof of Concept (POC) fund. By completion of the POC project (Q1 2010) the skin electrode/biosensor system will be capable of detecting and measuring glucose and lactate in real time. The development of such a system and successful clinical trialling, as part of the POC project, will confirm the novelty and the practicality of the approach. The anticipated outcomes of the POC project would address the perceived shortcomings of past RI based glucose measurement technology.
Two glucose monitoring markets have been identified - home testing for diabetics and hospital based clinical applications e.g. tight glycemic control in intensive care patients.The market for continuous glucose monitoring is likely to be drawn from Type 1 diabetics and those Type 2 diabetics who test blood glucose daily. In the US this equates to approximately 1.3M Type 1 diabetics and 0.3M Type 2 diabetics (those taking insulin and testing twice or more per day) giving a US market of 1.6M patients. It is estimated that there were some 15,000 users of continuous glucose monitoring systems in the US in 2007 and this is predicted to grow to 140,000 by 2009. The US sales figures for systems and disposables is predicted to grow to $257M by 2009. A US government study estimates that US hospitals are currently spending $500M to perform conventional blood glucose assays, it further estimates that this will grow to >$1Bn per year. Since the device is programmable and multiparameter it has the capability to extract a number of other blood analytes, e.g. lactate for sports applications, therefore the market for such a device is extremely broad. Beyond that the device has the potential to be used in a reverse mode for drug delivery applications.
Contact is welcomed from organisations interested in developing, licensing or exploiting this technology. The University of Strathclyde is securing patent protection for the technology.
For further information, please contact Research & Knowledge Exchange Services: e: rkes@strath.ac.uk t: 0141 548 3707 f: 0141 552 4409
This project was supported by the Scottish Enterprise Proof of Concept Programme. The Proof of Concept Fund supports the pre-commercialisation of leading-edge technologies emerging from Scotland's universities, research institutes and NHS Trusts.