Monitoring Blood Glucose Through the Skin

A new glucose monitor utilizes optical coherence tomography (OCT)-based technology to non-invasively examine the concentration of glucose in the blood.

The Sentris-100 glucose monitor is able to read and monitor blood glucose by shining a light on selected dermis targets and continuously monitoring that surface, while collecting the reflected light from within the tissue. The reflection spectrum that is monitored is sensitive to glucose concentration, thereby allowing for a non-invasive measure of glucose levels in the blood. The monitor samples the physiological targets once per minute, continuously displaying real time glucose measurements after an initial calibration. The Sentris-100, under development by GlucoLight (Bethlehem, PA, USA), requires regulatory clearance and is not yet commercially available.

The monitor is currently in clinical testing and has recently completed its first hypoglycemic clamping study, which measured blood glucose fluctuations in volunteer subjects with Type 1 diabetes. This followed an intensive care unit (ICU) clinical study in May 2007 at the Hershey Medical Center (Hershey, PA, USA) and the Providence St. Vincent Medical Center (Portland, OR, USA).

OCT is an interferometric, non-invasive optical tomographic imaging technique offering 2-3 millimeter penetration in tissue with micrometer-scale axial and lateral resolution. In 2001, OCT technology achieved sub-micrometer resolution due to introduction of wide bandwidth light sources (sources emitting wavelengths over a ~100 nm range). Since then, OCT is a widely accepted imaging technique, especially in ophthalmology, other biomedical applications, and art conservation.


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