New non-invasive technology to measure glucose levels in the human eye

New non-invasive technology designed to painlessly measure glucose levels in the human eye shows promise of one day replacing the finger-stick blood test, according to results of a pre-clinical study funded by Freedom Meditech, Inc.

The study, involving rabbits, showed that the eye-scanning technology produced non-invasive, in-vivo glucose measurements that tracked blood glucose readings with only a five minute delay. In addition, through a calibration and validation analysis, the mean absolute percent error for glucose prediction was below 13%, as compared to an estimated 32% error commonly derived from the finger stick blood test. The results of the study were presented at the Biomedical Engineering Society’s 2009 Annual Fall Scientific Meeting. The study was conducted by Anthony J. Webb, Rui Zheng, and Brent D. Cameron of the Department of Bioengineering at the University of Toledo.

“We are very encouraged by the results of this early-stage study and plan to move forward with additional animal studies and present the results to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, in anticipation of human clinical studies,” said Craig Misrach, President and CEO of Freedom Meditech. “We believe that the human eye represents an ideal point of access for the monitoring of bodily glucose without the interferences commonly present in other non-invasive glucose measurement approaches. Our technology is a powerful, and potentially highly useful, means to detect and manage diabetes and presents a large and growing market opportunity.”