Noninvasive continuous glucose monitoring using photoacoustic technology-results from the first 62 subjects

Continuous glucose monitoring is a useful tool for the achievement of improved glucose control in patients with diabetes. We tested the ability of a novel noninvasive continuous glucose monitor to track glucose excursions.

The novel noninvasive Aprise sensor (Glucon Inc., Boulder, CO) utilizes the photoacoustic properties of the blood to infer the prevailing glucose levels. The performance of this sensor was tested in 62 subjects with diabetes who underwent an oral glucose tolerance, mixed meal, or glucose infusion test.

The analysis included 979 pairs of reference values and sensor-derived glucose determinations. The mean of the relative absolute difference (RAD) of the sample was 19.9% with a median RAD of 13.2%. When results were plotted using the Clarke error grid, 66.5%, 28.1%, 1%, 4.4%, and 0% were within the A, B, C, D, and E ranges, respectively. The mean RAD for the oral glucose tolerance tests and meal tolerance tests was superior to the mean RAD of the glucose infusion studies (17% vs. 19% vs. 22%, respectively).

Continuous noninvasive glucose monitoring using the Aprise sensor provides promising results. Such device may increase patient compliance and improve diabetes management.