Sensors // Purdue Sensor Detects Glucose in Saliva and Tears for Diabetes Testing © Based on Material by Emil Venere, Purdue University, USA

Researchers at Purdue University (US) have created a new type of biosensor that can detect minute concentrations of glucose in saliva, tears and urine and might be manufactured at low cost because it does not require many processing steps to produce.

"It‘s an inherently non-invasive way to estimate glucose content in the body," said Jonathan Claussen, a former Purdue University doctoral student and now a research scientist at the US.Naval Research Laboratory. "Because it can detect glucose in the saliva and tears, it's a platform that might eventually help to eliminate or reduce the frequency of using pinpricks for diabetes testing. We are proving its functionality."

Jonathan C. Claussen, Anurag Kumar, David B. Jaroch, M. Haseeb Khawaja, Allison B. Hibbard, D. Marshall Porterfield, and Timothy S. Fisher: Nanostructuring Platinum Nanoparticles on Multilayered Graphene Petal Nanosheets for Electrochemical Biosensing, In: Advanced Functional Materials, Volume 22, Issue 16, August 15, 2012, Pages 3399-3405, DOI:10.1002/adfm.201200551: http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/adfm.201200551

Image: These color-enhanced scanning electron microscope images show nanosheets resembling tiny rose petals. The nanosheets are key components of a new type of biosensor that can detect minute concentrations of glucose in saliva, tears and urine. The technology might eventually help to eliminate or reduce the frequency of using pinpricks for diabetes testing. © Purdue University photo/Jeff Goecker