In the past, diabetics sometimes had to prick their fingers seven or eight times a day to check their blood sugar levels. This is certainly a difficult process.
Researchers have been looking for an alternative to this blood test-based blood glucose test. A few days ago, researchers at the University of California, San Diego, designed a device that can test blood sugar levels without drawing blood.
The team printed electrodes on temporary tattoo stickers and connected them to sensors. After each meal, the electrodes generate a tiny electric current for about 10 minutes. Because glucose is carried by sodium ions, it possesses a positive charge. By measuring the strength of the charge under the skin with the sensor, the amount of glucose in the blood can be calculated.
The researchers have tested the device on seven cases of nondiabetics and found that the device was consistent with the results obtained from traditional finger-prick testing. Amay Bandodkar, who worked on the project, said in a news release that each temporary tattoo can work for up to a day and costs roughly a few cents.
The new study builds on a glucometer watch introduced in 2002 (which used electrochemical technology and was not widely available because it irritated the skin), and the researchers say that the technology no longer irritates the skin because it uses a different method of testing and a lower electric current.
This isn't the first time researchers have used tattoos to help people with diabetes; in 2010, a team of researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology invented a nano-ink tattoo that, when paired with a sensor injected underneath the skin, could detect blood glucose levels for up to six months. But the method has not been tested on humans.
Now, the group at the University of California, San Diego, hopes to develop ways to measure the data without interruption. They also hope to expand the scope of the device and spread it as a non-invasive method of medical testing.