Diabetes Sensor

Detecting glucose is saliva is difficult because the concentration levels are far less than that in blood.  However, researchers at the University of Pennsylvania have created a sensor that can measure glucose in saliva. Quoting directly from this piece: “Their glucose sensor is essentially a carbon nanotube-based transistor in which the never tubes are coated with pyrene-1-boronic acid molecules that bind to glucose.  The device is relatively simple. It’s straightforward to measure the switching characteristics– the current-voltage curve– of a transistor. When glucose binds to the functionalized nanotubes, it simply changes this curve in a measurable way producing a straightforward way to measure glucose concentration.”  MORE

Image Credit: University of Pennsylvania