Wednesday, March 2, 2005

Japan Today: noninvasive glucometer, ultra thin needle, and more

Filed under: Diagnostics , Medicine

Japan Today reports about the range of products being developed by Japanese medical manufacturers:

Hitachi Ltd has succeeded in developing the world's first blood sugar measuring device able to provide readings without taking a blood sample. The company hopes to market the lunch box-sized device before the end of the year.

Hitachi's newly developed instrument reportedly measures the amount of heat released from the tip of the finger to calculate the quantity of blood sugar in the body.

Terumo Corp., which manufactures and sells medical products and equipment, is in haste to develop an extremely thin needle.

The effort is to cope with patients reluctant to get injections.

Company officials said the needle being developed is about half the thickness of those currently available, adding that it will contribute to reducing pain when used. Terumo hopes to realize its commercialization this year.

Fujinon Corp, a subsidiary of Fuji Photo Film Co, has sold 500 nose-insertion endoscope units at home and an additional 100 abroad since it marketed them in the fall of 2002.

Its endoscope is very thin, about half the size of conventional devices, and is less painful to a patient.

An official of Fujinon's general affairs division said the equipment it has developed is capable of providing full image information necessary for diagnosis.

Investigational prototype unit of Hitachi's noninvasive glucometer (pictured above) has now been officially announced. The abstract describing the non-invasive measurement of glucose by metabolic heat conformation (MHC) method is available here (.pdf).

                (5)