Researchers at Penn State have developed a wearable glucose monitoring device prototype consisting of an electronic sensor attached to a small alkaline solution chamber.
Noninvasive glucose monitoring devices are not currently commercially available in the U.S., so people with diabetes must collect blood samples or use sensors embedded under the skin to measure their blood sugar levels. With a new wearable device created by Penn State researchers, however, less-intrusive glucose monitoring could become the norm.
Led by Huanyu “Larry” Cheng, the Dorothy Quiggle career development professor in Penn State’s Department of Engineering Science and Mechanics, researchers constructed the device first with laser-induced graphene (LIG), a material consisting of atom-thick carbon layers in various shapes. With high electrical conductivity and a fabrication time of just seconds, LIG appeared to be an ideal framework for the sensing device.