The Saliva biosensor is used to monitor blood-glucose levels.
Last week, we heard about the attempt to measure diabetes levels through contact lens.Imagine being able to check your blood sugar levels with a small instrument under your tongue.
There is a new company on the scene that is working on a device that uses nothing more than a small amount of saliva.
The analyzer is called the i Quick It.It is being developed by a Connecticut-based health startup called Quick, founded by two ER doctors and a diabetes specialist.
With the news of a contact lens project and rumors that Apple is still working on a wristwatch that could monitor and display health sensor data, the public has become more interested in non-invasive diabetes testing.Many in the D-Community take news of new testing methods with a grain of salt, but it is always interesting to see new ideas emerge.
It would work the same way as a bloodglucose meter does.If you put a sample on a strip and insert it into a white meter device, you can use wireless technology to share the results with your friends and family.The difference is saliva and not blood.You would place the one-time use strip into your mouth for a few seconds to obtain a small saliva sample, and then you would use the handheld i Quick It Saliva Analyzer to read your blood sugar levels.
The brains behind the iQuickIt Analyzer think it has the potential to change diabetes care.They should be excited.It only takes you so far.
To get to the description of how the product works, watch the promo video first.
Dr. David Mucci and the son of a type 1 diabetes patient came up with the idea for the saliva analyzer.Traditional fingerstick blood tests were a barrier for many in maintaining the best possible diabetes care, because they saw the need based on their work in emergency rooms.They came up with the iQuickIt Analyzer to create a better option.It has been in development for more than a year.
It has been on the radar since the 1930s when researchers first learned that tears contained sugar.When Eli Lilly discovered that the urine-testing Tes-Tape was turning positive from the fingertips of PWDs, they realized that glucose was found in blood, sweat, tears, and even saliva.
This isn't the first saliva-testing method that has been tried.Some have failed and vanished while others are still being explored.According to Clark and his team, the technology has reached a point where the past barriers of accurate calibrations are no longer as difficult to get around as they used to be.
Clark says the iQuickIt meter is comparable to traditional fingerstick meters on the market.He wants to hit an even higher level of accuracy.
Mucci says they are looking at the question of how food in the mouth might affect the accuracy of the saliva test.He says his team doesn't believe there will be a need to rinse your mouth out with water before testing, but they do think there should be guidelines for saliva testing.Mucci and Clark hope that the results of their trial will answer many questions.
A well-known name from the diabetes community is also part of this startup venture, and that is Dr. William A. Petit Jr., who is a partner on Quick's medical.
The Petit family tragedy, in which his wife and two daughters were murdered in a break-in, led to him creating the Petit Family Foundation, a philanthropic organization that funds projects in education, chronic illness, and helping those affected by it.He may be in the running for a Congressional seat.Petit said he signed on with the startup because it was an opportunity to be involved with something that could solve the long-discussed problem of how to make it easier to measureglucose levels in diabetes patients.).
The i Quick It team is at a stage where many other companies are at, raising money for the next phase of development and clinical trials.An Indiegogo crowd-funding campaign set up late last year raised only $4,230 of the $100,000 goal, and they are now actively searching for investors to move development along.Clark hopes to submit their meter to the FDA in the next year or so, and then ideally have a market ready product within two years.
A PR rep tells us that the company is in a quiet time as they prepare for the clinical trials that are expected to start in March.The trials will start in central Connecticut and will likely expand outside the state.A broad call for participants will be made public for PWDs who want to take part.There will be another crowd-funding campaign in the spring or later into the year.
With the projected time-to-market being at least two years, there isn't any information about cost or insurance coverage.The startup knows how critical that is, and intends the saliva meter and Draw Wick strips to be as competitive, if not more affordable, than anything currently on the market.
We are intrigued but not sure.The idea that at least one of these concepts should work out is a great bet.One has to be a winner, no?
We have certainly seen our share come and go over the past decade.
We will keep watching and use what we have at our fingertips.
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