Saliva Blood Sugar Testing may soon bring an alternative to the traditional and old-fashioned blood tests which is used by diabetes patients and others by pricking a needle in the finger. Not everyone is fond of seeing blood, and these tests may be hard for them. The researchers from the University of Newcastle have already been working on this, and will soon have it for the rest of the world.
In 2019, the inventor of the first diabetes test for blood sugar monitors has won a lawsuit that granted him stakes at the millions received by Uniliver for the technology.
Before, the ECFD or the "electrochemical capillary fill device" would need an actual blood sample, and the easiest way to get fresh ones is to have it extracted by pricking a needle in the finger.
Saliva Blood Sugar Tests
As revealed by the University of Newcastle from Australia, its researchers have been working on the "blood-free" blood sugar tests that would mainly focus on getting saliva as its source. From here, the strip would gather samples and it would be the one to be tested and examined by the device, which would then reveal a person's glucose levels.
The process would still be needing a blood glucose device that would test the sample, only the need for blood and pricking the finger would be changed.
The researchers have said that this was a "world's first," and it would help in avoiding opening up the body to bleeding, as it could face different repercussions like infections entering the bloodstream.
The leader of the research team, Professor Paul Dastoor, said that it would soon have a manufacturing plant to create the strips, which already has a commercial partner in Australia. This medical need will address more than 460 million people across the globe who tests their glucose levels regularly, all having to resort to pricking the finger.
How Does It Work?
The researchers call this the "Holy Grail," in their recently released YouTube video which showed the process of obtaining a sample. Here, the models only need to put the sample strips in their mouth and slide them using a pulling motion to get their needed saliva. The strip has a special coating on its surface, and it reacts with saliva that makes blood sugar detectable using a device.
Then, the strips would be placed on ECFP devices, which would then produce results and show their blood sugar. The entire process of pricking a needle on one's finger is a thing of the past, and the researcher says that the future need not be using the same method to test one's sugar levels.
How Close are Researchers to Releasing It?
The "Glucose Biosensor" is already a work in progress, but the researchers are already looking into having it mass-produced and be available to the public in no time. The researchers already have commercial partners so that it can be easily made and distributed with their revolutionary facilities which is now under works.
That being said, these strips would soon come. However, the license for the product was obtained in 2016 and has been a lengthy project for the researchers themselves.
Related Article: Walmart to Sell Insulin at Almost Half the Price with First Private Drug Brand called 'ReliOn'
This article is owned by Tech Times
Written by Isaiah Richard
