The creation of a strip test which can be used to monitor blood sugar levels in diabetics using tears

ABSTRACT

Objective: To develop an alternative means to test sugar levels in diabetics by using strips sensitive to tears. Design and Methodology: 50 diabetic and 50 non-diabetic, participated in this study. A sample of tears was collected from each subject's right eye using a microcapillary tube. Following tear collection, the blood glucose level of each subject was tested and recorded. The tear samples were then frozen and stored for lab analysis later on. At the end of sample collection, 100 samples of tears were tested for glucose concentration. The results were examined to determine the correlation of glucose in tears to that in blood. Results: Based on this study conducted, the average tear glucose (TG) concentration in non-diabetics was found to be 1.89 ± 0.54 mg/dL and in diabetics, 3.10 ± 0.55 mg/dL, whilst the post prandial blood glucose (PPBG) concentration in non-diabetics and diabetics was found to be 118.60 ± 4.67mg/dL and 233.98 ± 16.21 mg/dL respectively. Conclusion: There was a significant difference between the glucose concentration in tears and the glucose concentration in blood via non-parametric data analysis. There was a weak correlation between the two variables. The development of a non-invasive, convenient and patient-friendly method of monitoring glucose concentrations would give rise to improved patient compliance and disease control. Based on our findings at this point in time, the creation of a strip test to detect glucose concentration may not be possible but with advancements in technology, a glucose tear strip sensitive to low concentrations of glucose present in tears, can be developed.