New DeviceTo Monitor Blood Glucose Levels via Acetone in Breath

Good news for people suffering from diabetes. Researchers have found a way to assess blood sugar levels using a breathanalyzer, meaning that patients needn't prick their fingers to check for glucose levels.

The hand-held device detects acetone in the patients' breath. In healthy people, acetone concentration in breath ranges from 0.3 to 0.9 parts per million (ppm) while in people with diabetes the concentration could rise to over 1.8 parts per million. In people suffering from diabetes, the level could be several times higher, according to medgadget. There have been several attempts at making devices capable of detecting the difference in acetone levels. However, none have been sensitive enough to pick up the differences.

The latest breathanalyzer has layers of nanometer-thick films with polymers which react with acetone. The device gives an acetone level read and also provides an estimate of blood-glucose levels.

Ronny Priefer, Ph.D., of Western New England University, developed the breathanalyzer for diabetics. The device is currently about the size of a book and researchers are attempting to reduce its size, reported Latino Post

The research is being presented at the 2013 American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists (AAPS) Annual Meeting and Exposition.

"Breathalyzers are a growing field of study because of their potential to have a significant positive impact on patients' quality of life and compliance with diabetes monitoring. What makes our technology different is that it only accounts for acetone and doesn't react with other components in the breath," said Priefer in a news release. "The breathalyzer we currently have is about the size of a book, but we're working with an engineer, Dr. Michael Rust at Western New England University, to make it smaller, more similar to the size of a breathalyzer typically used to detect blood alcohol content levels."

Limitations of the device include inconsistent results due to variation in humidity in patients' breath.

Researchers will test the efficacy of the breathanalyzer by comparing it with common needle-based glucose meters and actual glucose levels obtained during lab tests.