The Photonic Glucose Sensor (PGS) is a non-invasive, near-infrared, continuous alarm monitoring system made by Onsens. The system includes the main sensor, 2 armbands, and a battery charger. Each armbad contains enough power for 30 hours of wear. The sensor is bluetooth enabled so it can contact an iPhone running the Onsens's free diabetes management app or communicate with compatible blood glucose meters. You can even wear the PGS while sleeping, like the SleepSentry or Hypomon.
How It Works
Each morning, you choose a newly charged armband and place it on the upper area of the opposite arm of the day before. Then place the separate sensor into the armband and power it on. In the next two hours, you are required to take a normal blood glucose reading from a compatible blood glucose meter. The meter will wirelessly send the reading to the PGS. The PGS can then send the reading to the iPhone/iPod Touch application.
The sensor sends the near-infrared lights into your skin and monitors how the light is reflected back to the sensor. If the light is reflected at a narrow angle, this means that there is less glucose in the skin. If it is reflected at a wider angle, then there is more glucose present in the skin. Like other non-invasive monitors we've mentioned, the PGS doesn't actually measure how much glucose is there. It simply looks for a pattern or trend from its readings that will tell you if your blood glucose levels are rising or falling. It takes these readings every 5 minutes for up to 30 hours. Using both your fingersticks and the PGS's readings, the monitor will alarm when it thinks you are approaching hypoglycemia.
The alarm can be set as a beep or vibration. Vibration alarms are obviously good for discreet situations. When there is an alarm, simply press the button and perform a test with your meter to confirm that you are actually approaching a low.
The PGS communicates wirelessly with Bluetooth technology to your compatible glucose meter. You can then keep track of your glucose trends, to better adjust your diabetes management plan, including nutrition, exercise, and medication routines.
Availability
The PGS is not available for sale right now. Their site covers the basics mentioned above, but they don't go into much detail on the actual science used in the PGS or give a timeline on it's release. We'll update as soon as we hear more information.
About Onsens
Onsens was founded in 2001 with the mission to improve quality of life for millions of people around the world by developing, manufacturing and marketing non-invasive photonic medical devices to accurately measure a full range of clinical states including heart beat, blood perfusion, oximetry, hydration and relative glucose trend, as well as tissue temperature and humidity, with an initial focus on the burgeoning market for diabetes control. Onsens medical devices are designed for portable monitoring and point-of-care testing at home or in research, clinical, hospital and even sports settings.