System and method for glucose monitoring

• US 10,321,860 B2
• Filed: 09/25/2015
• Issued: 06/18/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 07/19/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Trilinear Bioventures LLC
• Original Assignee: Sanmina-SCI Corporation
• Inventors: Newberry, Robert Steven
• Primary Examiner(s): Winakur, Eric F
• Assistant Examiner(s): Fardanesh, Marjan
• Application Number:
  US14/866,500
• Publication Number:
  US 20170014056A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,362 Days
• Field of Search: None
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2560/0223 of calibration, e.g. protocols for calibrating sensors
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/0022 Monitoring a patient using a global network, e.g. telephone networks, internet
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/14532 for measuring glucose, e.g. by tissue impedance measurement
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/1455 using optical sensors, e.g. spectral photometrical oximeters
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/6817 Ear canal
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/6826 Finger
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/743 Displaying an image simultaneously with additional graphical information, e.g. symbols, charts, function plots
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 40/67 for remote operation

Abstract

A glucose biosensor includes a plurality of optical fibers configured for placement within the ear canal. A first optical fiber emits light into the ear canal. A plurality of other optical fibers capture and transmit the reflected light back to the glucose biosensor. A plurality of photodetectors are configured in the glucose biosensor to detect the reflected light from the plurality of optical fibers. The glucose biosensor processes the detected light from each photodetector to determine a glucose level measurement. In an embodiment, the glucose biosensor also includes a wireless interface to transmit the glucose level measurements to a glucose meter and/or a gateway.

Claims

1. A biosensor, comprising:

a first visible light source configured to emit visible light into an ear canal;

a second infrared (IR) light source configured to emit IR light into the ear canal;

a plurality of optical fibers encased within an earpiece configured to fit within an outer ear canal and each configured for capturing the reflected IR light and the reflected visible light from the ear canal;

a first photodetector configured to detect the reflected IR light and the reflected visible light captured by a first one of the plurality of optical fibers and determine a first spectral response of the reflected IR light and a first spectral response of the reflected visible light; and

a second photodetector configured to detect the reflected IR light and the reflected visible light captured by a second one of the plurality of optical fibers and determine a second spectral response of the reflected IR light and a second spectral response of the reflected visible light;

a processing circuit configured to obtain a glucose level measurement using the first and second spectral responses of the reflected visible light detected by the first photodetector and the second photodetector respectively and the first and second spectral responses of the reflected IR light detected by the first photodetector and the second photodetector respectively; and

a wireless transceiver configured to transmit the glucose level measurement.

2. The biosensor of claim 1, wherein the biosensor further comprises:

at least one optical fiber optically coupled to the first visible light source and the second IR light source, wherein the at least one optical fiber is centrally located between the plurality of optical fibers encased within an earpiece configured for capturing the reflected IR light and the reflected visible light from the ear canal.

3. The biosensor of claim 1, wherein the processing circuit is further configured to obtain a final spectral response of the reflected IR light using a combination of the first spectral response of the reflected IR light detected by the first photodetector and the second spectral response of the reflected IR light detected by the second photodetector.

4. The biosensor of claim 3, wherein the processing circuit is further configured to obtain a final spectral response of the reflected visible light using a combination of the first spectral response of the reflected visible light detected by the first photodetector and the second spectral response of the reflected visible light detected by the second photodetector.

5. The biosensor of claim 1, wherein the first and the second photodetector are configured to detect the reflected IR light and the reflected visible light from surrounding tissue of at least one of:

the inner canal or the outer ear canal.

6. The biosensor of claim 5, wherein the processing circuit is further configured to determine the glucose level measurement based on the first and second spectral responses of both the reflected visible light and the reflected IR light by:

obtaining a final spectral response of the reflected visible light using the first and second spectral responses of the reflected light;

obtaining a final spectral response of the reflected IR light using the first and second spectral responses of the IR light;

determining a ratio of light absorption from the final spectral response of the reflected visible light to the final spectral response of the reflected IR light; and

obtaining the glucose level measurement using Beer-Lambert calculations and the ratio of light absorption.

7. The biosensor of claim 6, wherein the visible light has a wavelength in a range of approximately 390 nm to 450 nm.

8. The biosensor of claim 7, wherein the visible light has a wavelength of approximately 430 nm.

9. The biosensor of claim 6, wherein the IR light has a wavelength in a range of approximately 700 nm to 1 mm.

10. The biosensor of claim 9, wherein the IR light has a wavelength of approximately 940 nm.

11. A biosensor, comprising:

a first visible light source configured to emit visible light on an area of skin;

a second infrared (IR) light source configured to emit IR light on the area of skin;

at least one photodetector configured to detect a spectral response of the visible light reflected from the area of the skin and a spectral response of the IR light reflected from the area of skin;

a processing circuit configured to;

determine a ratio of light absorption by the area of the skin using the spectral response of the visible light to the spectral response of the IR light;

obtain a glucose level measurement using the ratio of light absorption by the area of the skin determined using the spectral response of the visible light to the spectral response of the IR light; and

a wireless transceiver configured to transmit the glucose level measurement.

12. The biosensor of claim 11, wherein the at least one photodetector includes:

at least one spectrometer to determine a spectral response of the reflected IR light and a spectral response of the reflected visible light.

13. The biosensor of claim 11, wherein the processing circuit is further configured to obtain the glucose level measurement using the ratio of light absorption and Beer-Lambert calculations.

14. The biosensor of claim 11, wherein the biosensor further comprises a plurality of photodetectors, and wherein the plurality of photodetectors comprise:

a first photodetector configured to receive the reflected IR light captured by a first one of a plurality of optical fibers and determine a first spectral response of the reflected IR light; and

a second photodetector configured to receive the reflected IR light captured by a second one of the plurality of optical fibers and determine a second spectral response of the reflected IR light; and

wherein the processing circuit is further configured to obtain a final spectral response of the reflected IR light based on the first spectral response of the reflected IR light and the second spectral response of the reflected IR light.

15. The biosensor of claim 11, wherein the biosensor further comprises a plurality of photodetectors, and wherein the plurality of photodetectors comprise:

a first photodetector configured to receive the reflected visible light captured by a first one of a plurality of optical fibers and determine a first spectral response of the reflected visible light; and

a second photodetector configured to receive the reflected visible light captured by a second one of the plurality of optical fibers and determine a second spectral response of the reflected visible light; and

wherein the processing circuit is further configured obtain a final spectral response of the reflected visible light based on the first spectral response of the reflected visible light and the second spectral response of the reflected visible light.

16. The biosensor of claim 11, wherein the visible light has a wavelength of approximately 430 nm and wherein the IR light has a wavelength of approximately 940 mm.

17. A biosensor, comprising:

a first visible light source configured in a finger attachment to emit visible light into a fingertip;

a second infrared (IR) light source configured in the finger attachment to emit IR light into the fingertip;

a first photodetector configured in the finger attachment to detect the reflected IR light from the fingertip and the reflected visible light from the fingertip and determine a first spectral response of the reflected IR light and a first spectral response of the reflected visible light; and

a second photodetector configured in the finger attachment to detect the reflected IR light from the fingertip and the reflected visible light from the fingertip and determine a second spectral response of the reflected IR light and a second spectral response of the reflected visible light;

a processing circuit configured to obtain a glucose level measurement using the first and second spectral responses of the reflected visible light detected by the first photodetector and the second photodetector respectively and the first and second spectral responses of the reflected IR light detected by the first photodetector and the second photodetector respectively; and

a wireless transceiver configured to transmit the glucose level measurement.

18. The biosensor of claim 17, wherein the first and the second photodetector each includes:

at least one spectrometer configured to detect the reflected IR light and the reflected visible light.

19. The biosensor of claim 18, wherein the processing circuit is further configured to determine the glucose level measurement based on the first and second spectral responses of both the reflected visible light and the reflected IR light by:

obtaining a final spectral response of the reflected visible light using the first and second spectral responses of the reflected light;

obtaining a final spectral response of the reflected IR light using the first and second spectral responses of the IR light;

determining a ratio of light absorption from the final spectral response of the reflected visible light to the final spectral response of the reflected IR light; and

obtaining the glucose level measurement using Beer-Lambert calculations and the ratio of light absorption.

20. The biosensor of claim 17, wherein the visible light has a wavelength of approximately 430 nm and wherein the IR light has a wavelength of approximately 940 nm.