Blood Glucose Monitoring

Advances in diabetes technology have made monitoring and measuring blood glucose much faster and less painful than in previous decades. People with diabetes can select meters of various sizes, many requiring less than 1 microliter of blood and performing a test in as little as 5 seconds. Most meters are also downloadable, offering both the patient and their clinician opportunities to analyze large sets of data.

 

New developments in lancing devices have created smaller gauge needles that cause less pain when applied to the fingers.  Currently, the smallest gauge lancet available is 36, which is very popular in the pediatric population. Certain other devices have refined the glide control for reduced vibration and smoother lancing.

Some of the newer diabetes technologies include Continuous Glucose Monitoring (or CGM) systems. An enzyme-coated sensor is placed under the skin, and monitors the glucose in the interstitial fluid. The data is then sent via radio signals to a receiver, where it is displayed and graphed, showing realtime results. Alarms can be programmed to warn users of pending high or low glucose levels. This allows for much tighter glycemic control without increasing the risk of hypoglycemia.

CGM can also be used to fine-tune basal and bolus insulin doses, assess postprandial control, determine specific responses to exercise, evaluate the impact of various food types, and detect asymptomatic hypoglycemia. 

Although some CGM systems are linked to insulin pumps, the pumps only display the information--they don’t make dosing decisions based on the results.

Researchers are honing in on a “closed loop” system, in which a sensor transmits a signal to an insulin pump, and the pump alters the insulin delivery automatically in order to keep glucose levels within a desired range.