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Freedom Meditech promises glucose-monitoring eye scanner
There's certainly no shortage of efforts out there to make glucose monitoring a bit easier for diabetics, but Freedom Meditech is now claiming to have developed one of the least invasive to date and, what's more, it says it's actually gearing up to start some clinical trials. That latter bit is apparently possible thanks to a newly formed partnership with Batelle, which is helping to raise the necessary capital, while the former bit got a boost from an arrangement with the University of Toledo, whose technology it is licensing. The key bit, it seems, is that Freedom Meditech's method involves scanning only the front portion of the eye (or, more specifically, the Aqueous humor where the glucose resides) instead of shining a light on the retina, which some similar methods use. That apparently not only delivers results faster, but reduces the risk of any potential long-term safety hazards from repeated laser exposure, which would also make it better suited as a tool for early screening of diabetes.
Scientists convert glucose into fuel and polyesters
Glucose has been the building block for many zany creations 'round these parts, but using the widely available substance to create "products currently created from petroleum" has some fairly far reaching consequences. Gurus at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory have reportedly "converted sugars ubiquitous in nature into a primary building block for fuel and polyesters," dubbed hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF). Aside from the obvious benefits of finding yet another renewable energy to tap into, learning to harness this power could give garb and plastic manufacturers new routes to source raw materials. So what do the creators themselves think? "The opportunities are endless" -- we say: prove it.
VeriChip patents glucose-sensing RFID chip
You know how we love to rag on VeriChip, but we really can't complain about the do-gooder nature of this chip patent awarded to its sister company, Digital Angel Corp. The described glucose-sensing RFID chip would allow for quick, painless and purportedly more accurate glucose concentration readings for diabetics who have the chip implanted. Of course, ever with an eye for commercialization, Digital Angel says the chips could also work for tracking diabetic livestock, an apparently common and costly problem. Still, we're sure the 230 million human beings with the disease won't mind sharing such quality-of-life enhancements with their animal brethren, and hopefully such commercializations will help Digital Angel keep prices low for the chips. We're a long way off from an actual product -- it seems like most of the required development, testing and FDA approval is yet to be accomplished -- but we'll be keeping an eye out for the chips in completed form to make life a whole lot easier for the diabetics among us.[Via The Wireless Report]
