Browsing by Author "Nurminen, Teemu"

Diabetes is a chronic disease characterized by compromised insulin production or decreased ability to utilize insulin. Diabetics can experience abnormal glucose levels such us low blood glucose (hypoglycemia) or high blood glucose (hyperglycemia). Untreated hypoglycemia can be fatal. Prolonged hyperglycemia can damage organs such as heart and eyes. Diabetes is estimated to affect 463 million people in 2019. The number is expected to increase by 25% for 2030, affecting 10.2% of global population. The risk group of developing diabetes is estimated to increase from 374 million to 454 million within the same period. Moreover, diabetes is counting more than 12 % of all adult deaths. Diabetes can be managed with medication, and lifestyle changes (e.g. exercise and nutrition). Frequent blood glucose monitoring is a key tool in the management of diabetes. Unfortunately, as of today, all available methods for glucose monitoring are invasive (e.g. rely on needles or implantable devices). A more convenient method for glucose monitoring, overcoming the use of needles, could contribute to improve the health outcome of millions of diabetics by helping them to better manage the disease and delay or prevent its devastating complications. This thesis reports on the investigation in pilot clinical tests of the accuracy and performance of a noninvasive glucose monitoring prototype based on magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) and enzymatic electrochemical biosensors. The pilot clinical test involved 6 non-diabetic and 45 type II diabetics (male = 23, female = 28, average age = 60.3 ± 10.2 years). The mean absolute relative difference (MARD) of the device was 23.5 %. In the Clarke error grid, 99 % of resulted data points fell in the clinically acceptable A and B zones, in Clarke error grid. Moreover, 95.9 % of data points fell in zones A and B of consensus error grid. The felt discomfort of MHD sampling was significantly less compared to fingerstick sampling. The results indicate that noninvasive sampling of dermal interstitial fluid combined with electrochemical biosensors may enable the development of an accurate, safe, and convenient solution for noninvasive glucose monitoring.