A new sensor made from platinum and iridium is being used by scientists to detect blood sugar levels in people's tears.

The technique could mean an end to millions of diabetes sufferers having to prick their own finger to provide a blood sample, reports physorg.com.

A team from the University of Michigan led by Mark Meyerhoff explained that five per cent of the world's population have diabetes.

It is vital for them to monitor their blood glucose levels several times a day to ensure they are not at risk.

Tests on rabbits show that sugar levels in tears are similar to those in blood.

"Thus, it may be possible to measure tear glucose levels multiple times per day to monitor blood glucose changes without the potential pain from the repeated invasive blood drawing method," the researchers explain.

The system is based on an amperometric needle-type electrochemical glucose sensor that is based on immobilising glucose oxidase on a very thin platinum/iridium wire.

The study is published in the American Chemical Society's journal Analytical Chemistry.

Source:

Tear drops may rival blood drops in testing blood sugar in diabetes (09/11/11)

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