Needle free glucose monitoring in diabetes

      Fingertips are the preferred site for blood sampling the reason being they have a high density of blood vessels. But as the fingertips are sensitive, pain, skin damage, bruising and risk of infection from regular 'pricking' has invoked increasing efforts to develop needle-free methods of blood testing for people with diabetes.

      Needle-free jet injection is an emerging but well-developed technique in which a drug is delivered directly with a high-speed narrow jet of fluid. In a study published in the ‘Journal of Diabetes Science and Technology’ researchers demonstrated for the first time that a jet injector could also be used to collect blood samples from humans for glucose sampling.

      A randomized, single-blind, crossover study was conducted on 20 healthy volunteers who received interventions on four fingertips: a lancet prick and jet injection of a small quantity of saline solution through three differently shaped and sized nozzles. Released fluid volume, blood concentration, and glucose concentration were assessed immediately after the intervention. Pain perception and duration, and any skin reactions, were evaluated both immediately and 24 hours after the intervention.

      The results showed that jet injection released sufficient blood from the fingertip to conduct a glucose measurement. The estimated mean absolute percentage error in the blood glucose from the extracted fluid is 25%. There was no consistent evidence that a jet injection leads to different skin reactions at the intervention site relative to a lancet prick.

      According to the researchers, this technique may facilitate blood sampling, glucose concentration measurement, and insulin delivery to be performed in a single device.

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