Smaller glucose meter in the making

Students at UAE University (UAEU) are hoping to make life easier for diabetics by creating a smaller device that they can carry anytime to help them monitor their blood sugar levels.

The device — IDiaBeat — is being designed and built as a smartphone case cover, and will allow diabetics to easily check their blood sugar levels throughout the day without the need to carry a pouch containing all the monitoring equipment.

“Diabetic people have to check their blood sugar levels two to seven times a day, and for that they often carry a pouch that contains a glucose meter, needles and other things. For many of them, this is often an inconvenience,” said Latifa Al Ameri, one of the inventors of the device.

“The way the glucose meter works is very simple — it has a needle at the bottom as well as a sheet, and so the person just pricks his finger with the needle, and then he puts the drop of blood on the sheet, and inserts the sheet into the device, which will then provide the results to the person’s smartphone through an app that we are developing,” she said.

Al Ameri said the app would have several features other than just providing their blood sugar levels. “It will be able to store your history of glucose levels, what time you checked your blood sugar levels, and it will also have customised reminders.”

The device is in its prototype stage, but she is confident they would have a final product ready in 2018.