Eco Factor: Implantable glucose sensor powered by solar energy.
Biorasis has brought some good news for all those diabetics who are simply tired of pricking their finger multiple times each day to check sugar levels in their blood. The company has developed a state-of-the-art implantable sensor that could eliminate the use of conventional finger-prick monitors.
The rice grain-sized sensor dubbed Glucowizzard is to be implanted under a patient’s skin, where it monitors glucose levels continuously until it needs to be replaced approximately after a year. The sensor works like conventional glucose monitors and can send data to a variety of portable electronic devices such as cellphones and PDAs. If sugar levels get too high, the patient is alerted.
The device features a wristband that juices up the sensor’s photovoltaic cells by sending pulses of light through the skin. After clinical trials that are expected to commence in two years, researchers at the University of Connecticut expect that the sensor could go on sale by 2017.
Via: Inhabitat/Popular Science
