HK invents pain-free device to measure blood sugar

A woman gets an insulin shot in a file photo. Hong Kong scientists have invented a device to help diabetics measure their blood sugar painlessly for the first time - without pricking their fingers.

HONG KONG (Reuters) - Hong Kong scientists have invented a device to help diabetics measure their blood sugar painlessly for the first time - without pricking their fingers.

The size of a mobile phone, the instrument emits a weaker form of infrared, or near-infrared, which penetrates the skin on the finger and homes in on the bloodstream.

Out of the many components in the blood, the beam is able to identify bits of glucose through the frequency, or wavelengths, they transmit and the amount of blood sugar present would be displayed on the instrument in 10 seconds.

"There are different types of cells in the blood vessel ... red blood cells, white blood cells, other compounds, protein, glucose, cholesterol but our model selects the one for glucose and tells you its levels," Joanne Chung, professor and associate head of research at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University's School of Nursing, said in an interview.

"When you fly into Hong Kong, there are heat (fever) detectors as you go through customs, it's the same (principle)."

A team of 28 experts -- nurses, doctors, engineers, computer experts as well as a mathematician from Australia -- toiled for four years and came up with a device which is at least 85 percent accurate after five clinical trials.

It won a gold medal at the Geneva Invention Expo in April and will be commercially available in about a year.

"We are doing the last tests on very low blood sugar, we are looking for subjects," said team leader Thomas Wong, dean of the university's health and social sciences faculty.

Diabetes is a condition when the pancreas produces too little or no insulin. Unable to store sugar, the person loses a key source of energy and is at risk of heart disease, kidney failure, nerve damage, blindness and other eye diseases.

According to the World Health Organization, 180 million people worldwide suffer from diabetes and this figure will more than double by 2030. In 2005, 1.1 million people died from it.

For decades, diabetics have monitored their blood sugar using conventional instruments, which require them to prick their fingers and draw blood, up to several times a day.

While these have an accuracy rate of around 80 to 85 percent, the process is less than ideal.

"From a nursing perspective, everyone has the right not to suffer any pain, even if it is a very small finger prick," Chung said.

Wong agreed: "We do believe that one day, we won't have to cut up our bodies to know what is happening inside, that is what's happening now, we are moving in that direction."

The team hopes to use the same technology later to take other key measurements, such as blood cholesterol and lactic acid, particularly in the case of cancer patients.