GlycoGum: An Affordable Noninvasive Rapid DiabetesDiagnostic Gum
Charlie Chandsawangbhuwana
PhD CandidateDepartment of BioengineeringUniversity of California, San Diego9500 Gilman DriveLa Jolla, CA 92093-0435
Jonathan Kuo
PhD CandidateDepartment of Biomedical EngineeringUniversity of Southern California1042 Downey WayLos Angeles, CA 90089-1111
Abstract
A novel diagnostic tool is proposed thatvastly improves the screening test fordiabetes. This design consists of achewing gum that changes color basedon whether the patient is healthy, pre-diabetic, or diabetic. This diagnostictool will be:(1)
easy to use
, only requiring the patient to chew a piece of gum;
(2)
quick
, giving a diagnostic after only a minute of chewing;
(3)
affordable
, requiring no specialized equipment for testing.
Introduction
Afflicting over 180 million peopleworldwide, diabetes is a chronic diseasethat is caused by a lack of insulinproduction or an ineffective use ofinsulin
1
. Over time, if left untreated,severed consequences may occur suchas diabetic retinopathy, diabeticneuropathy, limb amputation, kidneyfailure, heart disease, and stroke
1
. It isestimated that there are more than 5million people in the US alone who havediabetes and are unaware of it
2
.The traditional method of diabetesscreening is a standard blood test. Thisis typically done after the physician hasdetermined that the patient is at risk fordiabetes. However, this will missdiabetics who for financial or otherreasons do not go see a physician. Also,for healthcare in developing countriesthere is no guarantee that the patientwill be able to do a blood test due to thelack of testing equipment. A chewinggum that serves as a diagnostic tool willaddress these issues by beingaffordable and easy to use. Mostimportantly, the avoidance of drawingblood and the accompanying pain willincrease the acceptance of diabeticscreening amongst patients. The
Figure 1
: Design use; the patient is diagnoseddepending on the color of the gum.
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