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Fighting Diabetes With Fluorescent Tattoos and Nintendo

by Warren Riddle on May 4, 2010 at 05:20 PM

It may seem like an automatic daily routine, but keeping up with the various precautionary measures required by certain illnesses can be a significant obstacle, particularly for needle-bound diabetics. But, technology could at least offset the inevitable confusion, annoying tedium and physical pain related to frequent glucose monitoring.

Researchers have already crafted designs for contact lenses and vehicle dashboards that actively monitor glucose levels. Now, according to Boing Boing, scientists at Draper Laboratory have devised a "tattoo" implant that can monitor blood levels of glucose, sodium, potassium and chloride. When the numbers reach a certain danger-point, the embedded fluorescent nanosensors show "color changes that can be viewed with the naked eye," eliminating the need for blood samples.

While those painless technologies remain a distant hope, Bayer HealthCare has a testing aid that could at least provide immediate incentive for diabetic children (and gamers). The New York Times discovered an awesome device by Bayer HealthCare known as the Didget, which actually plugs into a Nintendo DS. When a strip (with a blood sample) is inserted into the Didget, the levels are displayed, but users are also given points which accumulate and unlock various gaming awards.

The Didget won't eliminate pain, but it can at least provide tangible and, more importantly, entertaining benefits. For perhaps the first time since virtual violence appeared in U.S. homes, using the terms "blood" and "video games" in the same sentence (probably) won't spark a debate worthy of the high courts. [From: Boing Boing and The New York Times]

Tags: Childhood diabetes, ChildhoodDiabetes, diabetes, diabetes care, DiabetesCare, diabetic, didget, DraperLaboratories, glucose monitoring, GlucoseMeters, GlucoseMonitoring, health, health care, HealthCare, nintendo, top

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