How can tears ease the burden of diabetes?
Managing diabetes means constantly monitoring blood glucose levels. For billions of people around the world, this involves pricking their finger with a needle multiple times a day. The EU-funded GlucoTear project could soon relieve this discomfort thanks to a technique measuring blood sugar levels using tears. GlucoTear has now been featured in the new CORDIS series of explanatory videos titled Make the Connection with EU Science. The project has developed a solution for measuring the concentration of glucose in a tear. The tears are mixed with a substance containing quantum dots of carbon that becomes fluorescent when illuminated by an optical sensor coupled with a smartphone camera. The higher the quantity of glucose in the tear, the higher the fluorescence. By offering a more convenient and painless way to monitor blood sugar levels, Glucotear could greatly improve diabetes management. It might also enable better detection of the disease. Find out more about GlucoTear. ‘Make the connection with EU-science’ is a series of explanatory videos focusing on the scientific content and exploitation aspects of EU research projects.
Keywords
GlucoTear, diabetes, glucose, blood sugar, quantum dots, optical sensor
