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Researchers develop optical technology to detect diabetes complication
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Researchers at National Taiwan University Hospital, Hsin Chu branch, and National Chiao-Tung University have developed a wearable device to detect diabetic autonomic neuropathy, a complication of diabetes, sooner, according to a press release from the Optical Society.
The device consists of a pupillometer that can hang on a pair of eye glasses, the release said.
"Compared to the existing diagnostic techniques, the pupillometer is a more reliable, effective, portable and inexpensive solution for diagnosing diabetic autonomic neuropathy in its early stages," Mang Ou-Yang, the research leader at National Chiao-Tung University, said in the release.
The device is worn for about 30 minutes in a doctor's office while it monitors the patient's pupils. It stimulates the pupil by emitting four colored lights. Light reflected from the eye is recorded and used to evaluate the pupil, according to the release.
While the pupillometer measures 10 parameters related to pupil diameter, pupil response time and pupil response speed, the researchers found that five specific parameters were able to help them identify diabetic autonomic neuropathy.
As detailed in the release, the researchers intend to work on making the pupillometer smaller, collecting more data from patients with diabetes and engineering the device to measure two pupils simultaneously. Ou-Yang noted that the device could be available by 2020 if the clinical trials are successful.