Novel Medical Device can Lower Cost of Blood Sugar Testing

New medical equipment developed by a team of university students promises to reduce the cost of blood sugar testing.

In order to improve living conditions for developing nations like Tanzania, Clemson University students have introduced a low-cost medical device for blood sugar testing for diabetes. The project is a part of a larger project which included development of some other cost effective medical devices like an "infant warmer" and grass-woven neck braces.  

To ensure affordable diabetes testing, researchers developed an ink jet printer that uses enzymes instead of ink to turn paper into test strips. These strips can be printed for a penny each. Usually, commercial strips cost $1 each. 

In a day a diabetic person needs to use these strips for a minimum of five times a day. In this case the cost cutting device comes handy.

Similar to the conventional test strips and glucometers, the diabetic needs to put a drop of blood on the strip and insert it in the glucometer.  Through this the person can check for level of blood sugar.

Currently, the team is waiting for an approval from the regulators, so that it can be tested on humans.

"What excites me most about this is it puts the technology in the hands of the people who are in need," said Tyler Ovington, a senior from Greenville who is involved in the project. "It empowers them to provide themselves with health care and make the standard of health care that we have in the U.S. more ubiquitous across the world to give all populations a fair chance at a life."

Diabetes is a growing problem in the East African nation. Such tests can help check the blood sugar problem.  It can cause serious health complications that include kidney disease, stroke, neuropathy, gastroparesis, high blood pressure and ketocidosis.