Taiwan professor developing non-invasive blood glucose monitor

People with diabetes have to keep track of their blood sugar levels, usually by pricking their finger with a needle. But what if there were a way to monitor glucose, blood-free? A professor at National Taiwan Normal University has built a breath detector that can assess the level of blood glucose in the body by measuring the amount of carbon dioxide. The machine is still in an early stage of development, but it holds out promise for a painless way to manage diabetes.

Blow into the tube, and in just three minutes, the machine is able to detect the content of carbon dioxide and residual oxygen in the body, which can be used to estimate blood sugar levels. This is not an alcohol breathalyzer, but a non-invasive blood glucose monitor. It works because there''s a correlation between a carbon dioxide concentration and blood sugar concentration in the blood.

Lin Cheng-huang
National Taiwan Normal University Analytical Chemistry professor
If someone is healthy, about an hour to two hours after eating, their carbon dioxide level will return to a normal state. The carbon dioxide content will drop, and the blood sugar should also drop. If the carbon dioxide does not drop, it means there may be something wrong. We have tested patients using a regular glucose monitoring device and with this method, it''s pretty accurate.

This detector was developed over the course of 10 years by Lin Cheng-huang, an analytical chemistry professor at NTNU. His team hopes the device can eventually be used to screen people at risk of diabetes. It can also be developed into an at-home test kit for diabetics, or into a screening system for other diseases.

Lin Cheng-huang
National Taiwan Normal University Analytical Chemistry professor
There are actually many lung diseases related to a high concentration of carbon dioxide.

Dr. Toshio Kasia
National Taiwan University visiting professor
Because respiration is a very essential chemical reaction. It''s called cellular respiration. Any cell consists of your body needs oxygen. By monitoring oxygen absorption and the emission of C02 that''s a good indicator of your health, bodies, or activity of organs.

The developers have run tests on about a dozen people so far and are now looking to expand their trials to enhance the accuracy of the device.

[sandorhegedus]

The big question is how strong the correlation really is between breath CO2 level and blood glucose concentration. Any relevant, peer reviewed scientific reference might be helpful to validate the described methodology.

[floradean]

Nice video, I bought Ambrosia Nightrider cgm to monitor glucose which works great with the Libre sensor, their alarm feature is very helpful during night, it also gives alarm alerts when readings are not in range.

[johanbirch]

I see more and more solutions that can use the breath instead of other invasive solutions. Promising.