Non-Invasive Methods of Glucose Measurement: Current Status and Future Perspectives

摘要

Diabetes mellitus (DM) is a very common disease which, if a good glycemic control is not achieved, can lead nto serious chronic complications such as cardiovascular disease, retinopathy, nephropathy and neuropathy. Self-nmonitoring of blood glucose is a fundamental tool for the proper adjustment of the treatment of diabetes and, at present, it nis based mainly on capillary blood obtained by finger-prick (the classical glucometers). Since this method is painful and nthe strips are expensive, investigators have been attracted by the idea of using a non-invasive device for determining blood nglucose which would permit more frequent testing and a tighter control of diabetes. The non-invasive measurement of nblood glucose is based on the ability of the glucose molecule to interact with various chemical or physical methods. nNevetheless, in spite of some encouraging results and the efforts made over the past 30-40 years, there is no device avail-nable at present for use in clinical practice. A possible explanation might be the combination between the specific features nof each method and the specific characteristics of diabetic patients, which make them respond differently to physical and nchemical methods when compared to their healthy counterparts. In this paper we will give an overview of the non-ninvasive devices tested so far and their implications for the clinical management of the diabetic patient.