You May Not Need a Blood Test With New Biomedical Technology That Could Change Disease Diagnostics and Medicine Delivery

Posted in News Story

People with diabetes need to check their blood glucose multiple times a day. It’s not uncommon for patients with diabetes to monitor glucose levels at least five times a day. Discrete, on-demand testing requires pricking your finger for a blood sample or inserting a microfilament sensor in the body for continuous glucose monitoring.

The daily routine of glucose testing is often a major inconvenience for most people with diabetes, and there are always risks, said Makarand Paranjape, an associate professor of physics and director of the Georgetown Nanoscience and Microfabrication Cleanroom Lab (GNuLab) in the College of Arts & Sciences.

“You’re inserting a needle into your arm or abdomen and putting a sensor inside the body to detect blood glucose. Anytime you put something in your body, it’s going to be attacked by your own immune system,” Paranjape said. 

Paranjape hopes to decrease those risks with his new non-invasive technology, a transdermal patch that can detect biomarkers typically found in the bloodstream without drawing blood or inserting any device into the body.

What started as a project initially funded by the Department of Defense 25 years ago has since become one of Paranjape’s passionate pursuits. Over the last two decades, the physics professor has refined his biomedical technology and developed a family of patents through Georgetown’s Office of Technology Commercialization that he hopes will positively impact the quality of life for patients suffering from a wide variety of chronic disease conditions.

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