'Tattoo' May Help Diabetics

MIT chemical engineers are working on carbon nanotubes that could be injected under the skin to reveal blood glucose levels.

That technology could relieve diabetics of the daily task of pricking their fingers to check glucose levels while providing more accurate readings.

“Diabetes is an enormous problem, global in scope, and despite decades of engineering advances, our ability to accurately measure glucose in the human body still remains quite primitive,” says Michael Strano, the Charles and Hilda Roddey Associate Professor of Chemical Engineering. “It is a life-and-death issue for a growing number of people.”

Strano is working with Paul Barone, a postdoctoral researcher, on the sensing system that consists of a “tattoo” of nanoparticles designed to detect glucose, injected below the skin. A device similar to a wristwatch would be worn over the tattoo, displaying the patient’s glucose levels.

The MIT News Office article describes details of the technology and related research.