Measure Sugar Levels Through Saliva not Blood

With the new development of a biochip, diabetic patients may no longer need to be pricked by a needle in the finger or the arm to draw blood and determine glucose levels.  Created by researchers from Brown University, the new biochip can successfully measure glucose level in water at a level similar to saliva. Glucose concentrations are 100 times less in the saliva then the blood, indicating the efficiency of this technique.

Their results showed that the specially designed biochip could detect glucose levels similar to the levels found in human saliva. Glucose in human saliva is typically about 100 times less concentrated than in the blood, indicating that this technique is more sensitive than other presently used techniques.

This is research is mainly a proof of concept, although with a little tweaking and further testing, this biochip may prove effective in clinical use.  Also researchers indicate that this biochip could be useful in detecting relatively low levels of other chemicals and biological agents.

Who knows, before long, maybe police officers will no longer be carrying breath analyzers, but rather will make you suck on a biochip to determine if can be arrested for a DUI.

Either way, don’t drink and drive.

Just saying.

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