COMMERCIALISATION | CORNER
THE STATE CONTINUOUS NON-INVASIVE GLUCOSE MONITORING: a Medical Sensor Holy Grail MARISA DURFEE, CEO OF OUCHLESS GLUCOSE, PER OHLCKERS, PROFESSOR AT VESTFOLD UNIVERSITY COLLEGE, COLLABORATING WITH PREDIKTOR MEDICAL, FOUNDING MEMBER OF MANCEF,
DR. STEVEN WALSH, DISTINGUISHED AND REGENTS PROFESSOR AT THE UNIVERSITY OF NEW MEXICO, INSTITUTE PROFESSOR FOR THE ENTREPRENEURIAL RENEWAL OF INDUSTRY, UNIVERSITY OF TWENTE, PAST PRESIDENT OF MANCEF
Small technologies have been designed to meet the needs of medical sensing and monitoring since the early 1950’s. Indeed one of the most elusive yet promising applications is a constant monitoring device for diabetics. Over the years many of the pharmaceutical industry giants have spent in excess of $1 billion pursuing a small tech based glucose monitoring device for the marketplace. In 2010 the global marketplace for traditional blood glucose monitoring devices was estimated to be larger than $9 billion expected to rise to more than $12 billion by 2017. In 2010 over 28 million people were affected by either type 1 or 2 diabetes, by 2030 it is predicted to reach over 400 million people. There is no cure for diabetes so any monitoring device would fill a lifelong patient need.
One of the roadmaps in the MANCEF roadmap series, The Pharmaceutical Landscape, confirms the importance of a continuous or semi continuous glucose monitoring system. Today drivers are the initiators of innovation development in medical devices. A glucose monitoring system fulfils quite a number of these drivers but I provide just two here. The lifelong patient needs are one of the main drivers of innovation for medical devices. Similarly the aging of the population is a key driver of medical devices which is one of the main contributors to the rapid growth of the population that require diabetes monitoring. Drivers form the basis the firms review to develop next generation product solutions. In fact John Smith, Diabetes Technology Expert and a diabetic stated a continuous non invasive glucose monitor to be a diabetics’ Holy Grail.
Today, the vast majority of people that daily monitor their diabetic levels do so utilising invasive technologies. The repeated use of such invasive technologies is painful and causes scarring that inhibit the patient’s effective monitoring. In fact authors of a 2005 study showed that over 65% of a selected diabetic population skip monitoring their blood glucose due to this discomfort. There are currently no continuous glucose monitors on the market, which gather completely non-invasive blood glucose readings. Yet today with advances in the Internet of Things, cell phone technologies and small technology there is a resurgence of interest in development of a continuous or semi continuous glucose monitoring systems.
We review how this move to a continuous monitoring systems approach is producing a new hope in this area. We review two disparate approaches: Prediktor and Ouchless Semiconductor. The two firms take two differing paths toward a noninvasive solution. First we provide a discussion of the ‘Ouchless’ device. Ouchless Glucose is underpinned with a provisional patent from the University of New Mexico which makes claims for unique sensor and glucometer technologies. It measures blood glucose by focusing on the interstitial space surrounding cells by a combination of a ‘tattoo’ and an optically functioning designer flexible finger ring and a smart phone with an application that allows the generation of trend data inputs from the patient. It designed these powered MEMS devices to have a much longer life span, than three years providing the patient with constant monitoring via RF data transmission.
The system shown in figure 1 is will assemble the subsystems and test the assembly, manufacture the first launch, then partner to mass produce the OG Continuous Blood Glucose Monitoring System.
<< Figure 1: Ouchless Continuous Glucose Monitoring System with nano particles. >>
46 | commercial micro manufacturing international Vol 6 No.6
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