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The Daily OrangeJoseph Chaiken: No more blood to be shed over diabetes control
By Alex Shebar
Posted: 11/14/05, 11:14 PM EST Section: Pulp
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Dr. Joseph Chaiken is going to change the world - or at the very least make it a little healthier.
The chemistry professor at Syracuse University is on the cutting edge of diabetes technology. He has patented the first working device that tests blood glucose level without a single drop of blood. This revolutionary technology will ease diabetics' control of their disease, and in turn, pave the way for multiple at-home self-examinations for the average person; things that can now only be checked at the doctor's office.
"It's painful to check yourself five to 10 times a day, and (diabetics) … should do it but don't, so less complications makes for a better job in taking care of yourself," Chaiken said.
Diabetics must check their blood glucose level multiple times a day so they can bring it to the ideal range of 80 to 150 milligrams per deciliter with an injection of insulin, a hormone that a non-diabetic's pancreas creates normally. The current standard for testing glucose level involves pricking the fingers or, more recently, the arm, to draw out blood and apply it to a specialized strip. This strip is fed into a monitor, which reads the level of glucose within the blood.
Chaiken's machine, called the LighTouch, uses no needles at all, but instead focuses a laser to measure the spectroscopic signals while the blood is still in the body. This is accomplished by taking two readings of a laser, first with no pressure applied to the finger and then with light pressure, then analyzing the contents of the blood. The analysis is formed by looking at the various colors of post-laser light that exit the finger, which pinpoint the different types of chemicals within the tissue. The machine then compares the measurements of the colors that moved under the added pressure, for example the blood, and analyzes the glucose within to find the level.
"It's going to have a huge effect," Chaiken said. "First off, diabetes itself is a multi-billion dollar a year business. If you don't need (the strips and needles) anymore, it will make the cost of heath care that much cheaper for everyone."
The glucose monitoring project began in 1998 when Chaiken was working on a different task requiring a specific kind of laser, which he could only get from a company that was also trying to build a non-invasive glucose monitoring system. The company was willing to give Chaiken a few lasers if he did analysis on its glucose project. Chaiken immediately issued his first words of wisdom: Forget about it and do something else.
