SpectRx Reports Success with Laser-Based Glucose Monitor

SAN DIEGO, Calif., June 22 -- SpectRx, Inc. has demonstrated that prototypes of its laser-based glucose-monitoring device can continuously measure glucose concentrations in people with diabetes without drawing blood. Research presented at the annual meeting of the American Diabetes Association showed a high correlation between results from the prototypes and finger stick blood tests.
The prototypes used the company's biophotonic technology to collect interstitial fluid (ISF), the clear fluid under the skin through which glucose and other nutrients pass from the blood stream to the cells. ISF was collected through an array of micropores created in the stratum corneum--the dead outer layer of skin--by a laser and measured in a patch containing a glucose sensor. According to Mark A. Samuels, SpectRx chairman and CEO, the company plans to expand testing of the prototype monitoring devices and refine its glucose array before entering the product-engineering phase.