BLOOD GLUCOSE : THE NEXT VITAL SIGN

Blood glucose levels have been called the next vital sign in the acute care (hospital) environment. Numerous studies show that aggressive management of glucose levels in ICU patients’ results in a measurable reduction in complications, including mortality, length of hospital stay, and infection.

Current testing methods, however, are labor-intensive, and tedious. As awareness and adoption of tight glycemic control expands, hospitals will require continuous, non-invasive glucose monitoring devices that provide a more cost-effective solution.

Enter GlucoLight. Sentris-100 is a novel, accurate, and cost-effective way to monitor blood glucose levels in the hospital. A pole-mounted monitor provides the same form factor as other medical devices, such as IV pumps.  A comfortable, non-invasive disposable patch affixes to an exposed patch of skin such as the patient’s arm or chest. And after a brief calibration period, the GlucoLight monitor will display the patient’s blood glucose level in real time on an easy-to-read LCD touch screen.

The monitor will also reduce hospital costs. Traditional blood glucose measurements are time-intensive and expensive, requiring 3 - 5 minutes of nursing time per test to draw blood samples from a patient and measure blood glucose manually. By contrast, after initial calibration the GlucoLight monitor requires minimal intervention, making insulin therapy inexpensive to implement, saving dollars - and lives.

Due to the significant progress made on Sentris-100, GlucoLight is able to devote resources to the development of a small, wearable device for everyday use by diabetic patients.

OPTICAL COHERENCE TOMOGRAPHY

Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT) is a relatively new form of imaging. Invented in 1991, it is now gaining acceptance where precise micrometer resolution and millimeter penetration depth is required.

GlucoLight’s patent-protected use of OCT to measure changes in blood glucose will open up new frontiers in diabetes care. GlucoLight has identified specific targets within the dermis that correlate to changes in blood glucose levels.

Sentris-100 can sample these targets every 90 seconds to track blood glucose levels to a high degree of accuracy. Today, GlucoLight has the only continuous, non-invasive blood glucose monitor for the acute care environment actively in clinical trials.

GlucoLight’s goal with this technology is to prove its efficacy and commercial viability in the hospital environment, and then extend the technology to the consumer care market. With more than 21 million diabetic subjects in the U.S., and more being diagnosed every year, the need for a lightweight, wearable blood glucose monitor is well documented.

In the short term, GlucoLight believes that the critical care environment is an effective market for perfecting and validating Sentris-100. The monitor will be used by healthcare professionals, providing valuable feedback for future product development.

At the same time, the hospital market is significant in its own right, with more than 22 million ICU days, 300,000 coronary surgeries, and 800,000 heart attacks per year in the United States.

INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY

GlucoLight has two issued patents, 8 filed patent applications in the U.S., and numerous applications under the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT).