[Internet]
South Korean scientists claimed Tuesday to have developed a new wearable patch using graphene for improved diabetes monitoring and therapy.
The patch has improved the accuracy of blood sugar level measurements as it checks not only glucose in sweat but also temperature and acidity, according to Kim Dae-hyeong and other researchers at the Institute for Basic Science.
Their paper was published in the Nature Nanotechnology journal.
The new patch is applied to the skin, enabling patients to monitor glucose levels with microneedles and inject insulin in a painless and controlled way, Kim told reporters, adding his institute needs more clinical experiments on patients before commercializing the graphene-based patch.
Scientists have unveiled a wrist cuff measuring the level of glucose in the bloodstream of diabetic patients and administers a drug to lower that level if needed. Existing patches gauge blood sugar only in sweat.
Such patches consist of a heater, temperature, humidity, glucose and pH sensors and polymeric microneedles that can be thermally activated to deliver drugs transcutaneously.
Graphene is a super thin form of carbon with interesting electronic properties. Graphene doped with gold and combined with a gold mesh has improved electrochemical activity, sufficient to form a wearable patch for diabetes monitoring and feedback therapy.
Aju News Lim Chang-won = cwlim34@ajunews.com
reporter
Park Sae-jin
swatchsjp@ajunews.com
