Title: Non-invasive glucose monitoring using impedance spectroscopy

Authors: Shruti Narasimham; Gaurav Kaila; Sneh Anand

Addresses: Faculty of Medicine, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany; Trinity College Dublin, University of Dublin, Ireland ' Department of Biomedical Engineering, Faculty of Mechanical, Maritime and Materials Engineering, Delft University of Technology, Delft, The Netherlands ' Centre for Biomedical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Delhi, Hauz Khas 110016, New Delhi, India; Department of Biomedical Engineering, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Ansari Nagar, New Delhi, India

Abstract: Continuous blood glucose monitoring provides maximal information about shifting blood glucose levels and facilitates optimal treatment decisions for the diabetic patient, by identifying and preventing unwanted episodes of hypoglycaemia and hyperglycaemia. Non-invasive techniques provide comfort and easier accessibility to the user in comparison to the invasive blood glucose monitoring systems. This paper presents a novel approach towards non-invasive glucose monitoring via impedance spectroscopy. Impedance spectroscopy refers to measurement of dielectric properties of the medium with change in frequency. Changing blood glucose levels affects its dielectric characteristics which changes blood impedance. Blood is modelled in the form of Ringer's solution and tested using Ag/AgCl reference electrodes. Four-electrode impedance measurement is used to assess impedance changes as a function of frequency. With changes in glucose concentration in the solution, subsequent readings of impedance are recorded and the correlations provide a proof of change in blood impedance with glucose level fluctuations.

Keywords: non-invasive monitoring; blood glucose monitoring; impedance spectroscopy; dielectrics; diabetics; diabetes; hypoglycaemia; hyperglycaemia; blood impedance; glucose levels.

DOI: 10.1504/IJBET.2014.059672

International Journal of Biomedical Engineering and Technology, 2014 Vol.14 No.3, pp.225 - 232

Received: 08 Aug 2013
Accepted: 30 Nov 2013
Published online: 16 Oct 2014 *

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