IPhone Detects Blood Sugar, Without Blood

IPhones may soon eliminate diabetes patients' need to draw blood, as mobile medical apps become increasingly sophisticated.

A modified iPhone can now non-invasively monitor biomarkers like glucose. Developed by Professor Heather Clark's team in the Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences at Northeastern University, the system first requires a person be injected with a miniscule amount of nanoparticle solution that fluoresces when exposed to a target molecule like glucose.

Then, an iPhone equipped with a special battery-powered case, camera lens filter, and LED array reads the levels of fluorescence and reports them to a computer for analysis.

Right now, Clark's system cannot yet analyze the nanoparticles' data, but she hopes to create an iPhone app to do just that in the future. If Clark and her team develop this technology further, users may soon track biomarkers other than blood sugar, like sodium and even blood oxygen levels, with their iPhones.

Clark also hints at the possibility of expanding this system beyond even biomarker measurement. 'Let's say you have medication with a very narrow therapeutic range,' she said, 'you have to try it [a dosage] and see what happens.'

But with the nanosensors and a modified iPhone, she suggests people may monitor the effects of a new drug in the bloodstream in real time.

This technology, though barrier-breaking, isn't alone in its field, as the market for mobile medical apps continues to grow. The iPhone offers apps and devices that can analyze stroke victims' brains, read EKG scans, even detect malaria and dengue fever.

There's even an app to detect melanoma called Skin Scan, which clicks a photo of suspicious spots and analyzes them to determine if a visit to a dermatologist is warranted.

As medical apps become more popular and utilized in the medical community, the FDA is looks to regulate the mobile tools used in hospitals and clinics to ensure quality control.

'We wanted to make sure that we are consistent in regulating medical devices so nothing has changed,' said FDA policy advisor Bakul Patel. 'If somebody makes a stethoscope on an iPhone, it doesn't change the level of oversight we have of a stethoscope.'

This plan may irk developers reluctant to wait on the FDA's famously slow approval process, though it may help standardize medical care across the country.

Whatever happens with the FDA, technology like Heather Clark's will likely keep growing, along with increased demand for mobile medical apps revolutionizing health care by making it more accessible and even economical.

IPhone Detects Blood Sugar, Without Blood originally appeared at Mobiledia on Thu Jul 21, 2011 4:12 pm.