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Feasibility analysis of an epidermal glucose sensor based on time-resolved fluorescence
Kamal M Katika1, Laurent Pilon
1Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Department, Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science, University of California, Los Angeles, California 90095, USA.
Applied Optics
|May 22, 2007
Summary
This study explored using a time-resolved fluorescence sensor to measure glucose in skin. The sensor shows promise for non-invasive glucose monitoring by accurately recovering glucose concentrations.
Area of Science:
- Biomedical Optics
- Fluorescence Spectroscopy
- Biosensing
Background:
- Non-invasive glucose monitoring is crucial for diabetes management.
- Time-resolved fluorescence offers potential for sensitive biochemical detection.
- Skin's complex optical properties pose challenges for optical sensing.
Purpose of the Study:
- To assess the feasibility of an embedded time-resolved fluorescence sensor for glucose monitoring in skin.
- To model skin as a multilayer medium with specific optical properties and fluorophore characteristics.
- To evaluate the accuracy of recovering glucose concentrations using this sensing approach.
Main Methods:
- Modeled skin as a multilayer medium with optical properties from literature.
- Solved the transient radiative transfer equation using the modified method of characteristics.
- Simulated fluorescence decays, recovered fluorophore lifetimes, and assessed noise effects.
Main Results:
- Fluorescence lifetime of nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD)H was unrecoverable due to negligible signal contribution.
- Other fluorophore lifetimes were recovered with high accuracy (within 1.3%).
- Glucose concentrations were recovered within 13.5% of actual values.
Conclusions:
- The time-resolved fluorescence sensor demonstrates feasibility for non-invasive glucose monitoring.
- Accurate recovery of glucose concentrations suggests potential for clinical application.
- Further refinement may be needed to address limitations with specific fluorophore signals.
