Fluorescent Probes to Measure Glucose

New portable devices based on fluorescent probes in under-the-skin patches that are sensitive to glucose are being developed by researchers at the University of Maryland School of Medicine (UMBI, Baltimore, USA). The devices are designed to offer people with diabetes a painless way of monitoring their glucose.

Using this new method, a diabetic will have a patch implanted just under the skin that consists of special fluorescent molecules called fluorophores that respond specifically to glucose. When a red light (via a laser diode) is shone onto the skin, the type of light reflected back from the patch will give a reading of the blood glucose concentration. The researchers are developing several classes of direct-sensing glucose probes, each displaying widely different spectral properties. The project has recently received a grant of US$200,000 from the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation.

"We want to improve healthcare for diabetics,” said Jospeh Lakowicz, head of the research team and research professor at UMBI's Medical Biotechnology Center. "This is a way of providing painless methods for monitoring blood glucose.” The team is also experimenting with monitoring glucose with proteins from thermophyllic organsisms found in extreme environments, such as hot springs and deep wells in the ocean.




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