Test developed to measure blood glucose through saliva.

Greetings to all my dear readers and followers of this relevant community, today I will share with all of you an important technological advance that was presented in the field of health, it is a new device that can measure blood glucose without pricking the fingers of patients.

Worldwide diabetes is a disease that causes millions of deaths a year, that is why it is of utmost importance that patients suffering from this disease should be subject to daily blood glucose controls, this in order to maintain an accurate control of blood sugar levels and to attack any irregularity that is occurring in time, thus avoiding any decompensation of the patient and prevent his death.

This blood glucose control is normally performed through a glucometer, this glucometer is a device that is capable of measuring blood glucose levels in a matter of minutes, this important equipment is composed of the glucometer, a lancing device, lancets and test strips. The process of how it is done is very simple, the lancet is placed in the lancing device, then the patient's finger is taken and pricked with this device, once the drop of blood is present on the finger it is placed on the test strip and introduced into the glucometer, in a matter of minutes the glucometer shows on its screen the results obtained.

Source <a href="https://pixabay.com/es/photos/diabetes-la-sangre-glucosa-prueba-2424105/>

This process is performed several times a day in patients who are very delicate, the annoying and/or painful part of this process are the punctures that patients must receive so often to be able to perform this test. Recently, Australian scientists belonging to the University of Newcastle, New South Wales, developed a non-invasive blood glucose test through saliva, thanks to the development of this device, patients will not have to go through the painful process of traditional glucometer pricks.

This new test consists of a strip that incorporates an enzyme to detect glucose in a transistor, the material with which it was developed is an electronic ink that can be printed, which will allow testing on a large scale and still very low cost. This project has already secured an investment of 4.7 million dollars which come from an Australian fund to install the production circuit, thanks to this important investment scientists say they can develop hundreds of millions of tests and could be on the market in approximately two years.

This new test works as follows: when the strip is placed on the patient's tongue the glucose oxidase reacts with the glucose in the saliva forming hydrogen peroxide, the hydrogen peroxide decomposes into hydrogen ions generating an electrical signal which can be captured, processed and displayed through a smartphone application. Definitely the advances that arise daily in the field of health are of great relevance, because they allow to improve the processes by which patients must be submitted.