Breathalyzer to Detect Diabetes, Coming Soon

A sensor technology that could significantly simplify the diagnosis and monitoring of diabetes has been developed by scientists.

Even before blood tests are administered, those with diabetes often recognize the condition's symptoms through their breath acetone-a characteristic "fruity" odor that increases significantly with high glucose levels.

Remedies to Treat Diabetes Naturally
An article about the natural remedies available at home to treat diabetes effectively and efficiently.

The Pitt team was interested in this biomarker as a possible diagnostic tool.

"Once patients are diagnosed with diabetes, they have to monitor their condition for the rest of their lives," said Alexander Star, principal investigator of the project and Pitt associate professor of chemistry.

"Current monitoring devices are mostly based on blood glucose analysis, so the development of alternative devices that are noninvasive, inexpensive, and provide easy-to-use breath analysis could completely change the paradigm of self-monitoring diabetes," he noted.

Quiz on Diabetes Medications
How much do you know about the medications used to treat diabetes? Here are a few questions you could attempt to test your knowledge.

Together with his colleagues-Dan Sorescu, a research physicist at the National Energy Technology Laboratory, and Mengning Ding, a Pitt graduate student studying chemistry-Star used what's called a "sol-gel approach," a method for using small molecules (often on a nanoscale level) to produce solid materials.

The team combined titanium dioxide-an inorganic compound widely used in body-care products such as makeup-with carbon nanotubes, which acted as "skewers" to hold the particles together. These nanotubes were used because they are stronger than steel and smaller than any element of silicon-based electronics.

Diabetes Risk Assessment Calculator
Almost one-third of the people are unaware of the risk factors of diabetes. Find out if you run the risk of diabetes by using Diabetes Risk Assessment calculator.

This method, which the researchers playfully call "titanium dioxide on a stick," effectively combined the electrical properties of the tubes with the light-illuminating powers of the titanium dioxide. They then created the sensor device by using these materials as an electrical semiconductor, measuring its electrical resistance (the sensor's signal).

The researchers found the sensor could be activated with light to produce an electrical charge. This prompted them to "cook" the "skewers" in the sensor under ultraviolet light to measure acetone vapors-which they found were lower than previously reported sensitivities.

Neurodegenerative Disease may be Treated by Diabetes Drug
New research suggests that a drug used to control Type II diabetes can help repair the spinal cords of mice suffering from the inherited disease adrenoleukodystrophy.

"Our measurements have excellent detection capabilities. If such a sensor could be developed and commercialized, it could transform the way patients with diabetes monitor their glucose levels," said Star.

The team is currently working on a prototype of the sensor, with plans to test it on human breath samples soon.

Their findings were published in the latest issue of the Journal of the American Chemical Society (JACS).

Source-ANI