New trial offers hope for diabetics

Research at the University of Reading could eliminate the need for people with Type 1 diabetes to check their glucose levels by pricking their fingers.

The Department of Food and Nutritional Sciences is working with Lein Applied Diagnostics on a clinical trial, which could lead to the development of a meter that measures glucose in the eye using a low power beam.

Currently, people with Type 1 diabetes use painful and cumbersome ‘finger sticks' to gain a sample of blood to measure their glucose levels. Type 1 diabetes develops when the insulinproducing cells in the body have been destroyed and the body is unable to produce any insulin.

Insulin is the key that unlocks the door to the body's cells. Once the door is unlocked glucose can enter the cells where it is used as fuel. In Type 1 diabetes the body is unable to produce any insulin so there is no key to unlock the door and the glucose builds up in the blood.

The aim of the trial is to develop a model of how the characteristics of the eye change when glucose changes in the blood. The longer term is goal is to produce a meter with the look and feel of a mobile phone, and the user will simply look into it and press a button to get their reading.