The GlycoCharge: A Translational Spectrophotometric Apparatus for Noninvasive Glucose Monitoring in Type II Diabetics Using Correlated Electrolyte Concentrations

Overview

Over 462 million individuals suffer from Type II Diabetes worldwide. However, current glucose monitors are painful, costly, and unsustainable. This project establishes a novel, non-invasive monitor that uses the spectrophotometric detection of glucose biomarkers (potassium, sodium, and phosphate) to estimate blood sugar through the finger at wavelengths of 400-800 nm. This uniquely deviates from other spectroscopic monitors that measure glucose directly, requiring inaccessible equipment emitting wavelengths exceeding 1000 nm. Our previous research encompassed 250+ experiments involving the induction of varying levels of diabetes in an invertebrate model, extraction of hemolytic fluid (blood equivalent), and the development of a novel prediction model effectively correlating potassium, sodium, and phosphate to glucose (R^2 > 0.9 for all three electrolytes). This translational model was integrated into the GlycoCharge, a novel prototype. It consists of three distinct LEDs to measure the absorbances of each of the electrolytes (766.5nm, 595nm, and 470nm), a potential fourth LED to measure path length (650nm) as used in Beer's Law, an Arduino microcontroller, and a photodiode to measure transmittance. To verify the prototype glucose output, 100 trials were conducted by comparing readings from a medically verified glucometer to the GlycoCharge device. Residual graphs and error charts yielded p > 0.001, indicating that the error associated with the GlycoCharge had no influence from outside factors and that there was a significant increase in accuracy when detecting lower glucose levels. Comparatively, a majority of current glucometers fail to measure lower extremes of glucose concentrations. The overall error for the device is 4.57%, on par with current standards.

Competition history

• ISEF 2025 Biomedical Engineering · Entry ENBM082T

Resources

• ISEF abstract page ↗

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