COMMERCIALIZATION

Jean says the researchers have been in talks with companies to commercialize the product. Because of the length of time it takes to get a glucose reader approved that would be used to guide treatments, Jean thinks the first function could be an alarm those with diabetes would wear while sleeping.


"One of the worries is blood sugar levels will fall when asleep, and they can go into comas," Jean says. Even though there are some sensors now that measure temperature changes and sweat, Jean believes their product could be better suited for the task.

What's more, if the results hold up the device could one day be used for more than just glucose reading. "This particular range of frequencies is a new modality for developing sensors for lots of different things," says Jean. "We've just been focused on blood glucose, but we think there are other things we could measure."

SAFETY

The device uses less power than a cell phone, and appears to be safe, says Jean. There are no known medical effects from the low levels of non-ionizing electromagnetic radiation, although some controversial studies have suggested that electromagnetic waves emitted from cell phones pose a small health risk.

In any case, Jean says, "We're not talking about putting this up next to your head....We're not transmitting to some remote tower. It's very low-level signals and extremely safe."




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