Tear Drops may be Used to Test the Levels of Blood Sugar

As the world faces an obesity epidemic, the incidence of diabetes is also showing a corresponding increasing trend. More than 5 percent of the people around the world suffer from diabetes out of which 26 million are in the U.S. alone. Type II diabetes is one of the biggest chronic health problems around the globe. Most of the patients suffering from diabetes have to get their fingers regularly pricked in order to test the blood sugar levels. However, this is a cause of discomfort for most of these patients. Now, scientists have developed a new technique for detecting blood sugar which employs tear drop instead of blood drop for the test.

The new technique is based on using an electrochemical sensor device to test the sugar level in the tear drops. The tear glucose levels are a close reflection of the blood sugar levels. The technique has been devised by a team of scientists led by Qinyi Yan, and their report has been published in the latest issue of the journal “Analytical Chemistry”. In this method, tear fluid is collected in a capillary tube. The fluid undergoes a chemical reaction, wherein the glucose oxidase present in the tear reacts with a platinum/iridium wire and the hydrogen peroxide formed is detected with the help of the needle type electrochemical glucose sensor. The tear glucose levels reflect accurately the blood sugar levels. Moreover, the new sensor has been optimized to detect even very small levels of glucose.

The new sensor was used to examine tear glucose levels of anesthetized rabbits over a period of 8 hours. Their blood sugar levels were also determined simultaneously. It was seen that both the readings matched closely. This has led the scientists to believe that the technique of measuring tear sugar levels can one day replace the invasive technique of blood sugar measurement.

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