Originally published August 15 2005
Diabetics may have a new, painless way to check glucose levels
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews Editor
A new tiny device has been developed that can allow diabetics and hospitals to check glucose levels not with a needle, but with a small device that measures a person's molecules.
August 5, 2005 Two tiny devices recently developed by researchers at the National Nuclear Security Administration's Sandia National Laboratories could mean the elimination of blood drawing by diabetes patients to test glucose levels or by medical personnel to determine if someone is having a heart attack.
Arranged in varying numbers on a small patch, the needles can measure molecules inside the body, eliminating the need to withdraw blood from a patient.
One device is ElectroNeedles, micron-sized electrodes capable of measuring molecules such as glucose that can donate or accept electrons (redox behavior).
The other is �Posts, micron-sized posts that have the potential of painlessly measuring proteins and other macromolecules, including protein markers released during a heart attack, using optical measurements.
"The tiny ElectroNeedles, expected to be constructed of cheap throw-away plastic, would not only make glucose testing simple and painless, but would significantly cut the diagnostics time involved in protein analysis," says Jeb Flemming, Sandia project leader.
"Because the analysis is done inside the body, the need to withdraw body fluid is eliminated, and because the needles are so small the measurements are painless."
It wasn't until they hired Colin Buckley, a medical student from the University of New Mexico Medical School, that the team realized the significance of their invention.
The team realized that the tips of each of the ElectroNeedles and �Posts could be coated with a biologically active layer capable of measuring concentrations of specific lipids, proteins, antibodies, toxins, viruses, and carbohydrates (such as glucose).
Using the ElectroNeedles and rapid electrochemical methods for analysis, a measurement can be made in a few seconds.
Likewise, using coated �Posts to capture proteins and other non-redox behaving molecules, optical measurements can potentially be made in less than a half hour.
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