Finger pricking and blood draws continue to be a daily ritual for millions of diabetics that require regular glucose testing. Yet, glucose is found in other bodily fluids and can be measured with appropriate tools. This has been difficult and costly, but researchers at the A*STAR research institute in Singapore have developed new technology that accurately measures glucose in urine while differentiating it from other sugars.
The technique uses a bimetallic film over nanospheres (BMFON) for surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) detection of sugar-binding triosmium carbonyl conjugates. Though the new assay provides a reading of different sugars, each produces a unique signal peak, the magnitude of which correlates with that sugar’s concentration.
Testing the technology on urine samples, the researchers were able to measure glucose levels down to .1 millimoles per liter, well within the precision necessary for clinical purposes.
From the announcement:
Using their newly developed assay, the researchers could determine the glucose level in urine samples spiked with a standard glucose solution. The new assay has three key advantages: only a low sample volume is required; there is no need for the sample to be purified; and the assay’s sugar receptors do not need to be conjugated to SERS-active nanoparticles.
“Our work is unique in that we used a metal carbonyl probe to access an uncluttered region in the SERS spectrum, which most other organic probes cannot provide,” says Olivo. “By coupling this probe to a SERS-based assay, we achieved a high selectivity and sensitivity in the detection of glucose over other sugars.”
“These advantages should mean that this concept for a glucose assay can be developed into a clinical diagnostic tool,” says Olivo.
Study in Journal of the American Chemical Society: A Transition Metal Carbonyl Probe for Use in a Highly Specific and Sensitive SERS-Based Assay for Glucose…
A*STAR: A highly sensitive glucose sensor with sugar receptors on nanospheres…