The U.S. government's National Institute of Standards and Technology announced Tuesday that researchers have developed a technology that uses magnetometers in common cell phones to accurately measure blood glucose levels.
Almost all modern mobile phones are equipped with a magnetometer, which acts like a compass to detect the direction of the Earth's magnetic field. This is very useful for navigation and other purposes. However, researchers were able to use it for a completely different purpose. Researchers believe that smartphones can be used to measure various molecules and biomarkers in the blood.
In a proof-of-concept study, researchers attached a small well containing a solution (used in place of blood for testing) to a cell phone along with a strip of hydrogel. Hydrogel is a porous material that expands when placed in water. They also designed the hydrogel to respond to the presence of glucose or pH levels (a measure of acidity) by swelling and contracting, and then embedded small magnetic particles within the hydrogel. Changes in pH levels can indicate various diseases.
As the hydrogel particles expand or contract, the magnetic particles move toward or away from the cell phone's magnetometer. The magnetometer was then able to detect corresponding changes in the strength of the magnetic field. They claim to have measured even very low glucose concentrations using this strategy. Although home blood sugar monitoring does not require such high sensitivity, this technology could in the future allow testing for glucose in saliva, which contains lower concentrations of sugar.
The NIST team said the smart hydrogels they used are cheap and relatively easy to manufacture. In theory, these could be sold as cheap test kits that could be attached to a mobile phone and use a specific app to measure blood sugar levels. Because the technology does not use any more electronics or technology than those found on smartphones, it could serve as a low-cost testing method compared to currently available alternatives.
Their research results were published in the journal Nature Communications.
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Date first uploaded: March 4, 2024 16:35 IST
