APPARATUS FOR NON-INVASIVE BLOOD GLUCOSE MONITORING

• US 20120277556A1
• Filed: 04/27/2012
• Published: 11/01/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 04/29/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Taiwan Biophotonic Corporation
• Original Assignee: Industrial Technology Research Institute
• Inventors: Li, Yu-Tang, Chu, Chang-Sheng, Fan, Chih-Hsun, Chung, Shuang-Chao, Li, Ming-Chia, Chen, Jyh-Chern, Tiao, Kuo-Tung
• Granted Patent: US 9,833,175 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 600/319
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/14532 for measuring glucose, e.g. by tissue impedance measurement
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/14558 by polarisation

Abstract

An apparatus for non-invasive blood glucose monitoring includes a light source for generating at least one ray of light, a beam splitter with a focusing function leads the light into an eyeball and focuses on the eyeball, a set of photo detectors for measuring optical rotatory distribution (ORD) information and absorption energy information of the reflected light reflected from the eyeball and transmitted through the first beam splitter to the set of photo detectors, and a processing unit. The processing unit receives and processes the ORD information and the absorption energy information to obtain an ORD difference and an absorption energy difference resulting from the light emitted from the light source and the reflected light transmitted to the set of photo detectors, and analyzes the ORD difference and the absorption energy difference to obtain a glucose information to read the blood glucose information.

Claims

1. An apparatus for non-invasive glucose monitoring, comprising:

at least one light source, emitting at least one ray of light;

a first beam splitter with a focusing function leads the light emitted from the light source into an eyeball and focuses on the eyeball through the first beam splitter, and then a reflected light reflected from the eyeball is generated;

a set of photo detectors, measuring an optical rotatory distribution information and an absorption energy information of the reflected light, which are reflected from the eyeball and then transmitted through the first beam splitter to the set of photo detectors; and

a processing unit, receiving and processing the optical rotatory distribution information and the absorption energy information to obtain an optical rotatory distribution-difference and an absorption energy difference resulting from the light emitted from the light source and the reflected light transmitted to the set of photo detectors, and to obtain a biological molecule information of a biological molecule, wherein the biological molecule at least comprises a glucose, the processing unit obtains a glucose information through the biological molecule information, the glucose information has a corresponding relationship with a blood glucose information, and the blood glucose information is read through the corresponding relationship.

2. The apparatus for non-invasive glucose monitoring according to claim 1, wherein a wavelength of the light source is to be absorbed by glucose molecules.

3. The apparatus for non-invasive glucose monitoring according to claim 1, wherein the light source comprises at least an infrared light.

4. The apparatus for non-invasive glucose monitoring according to claim 1, wherein the light source comprises a light emitting diode or a laser diode.

5. The apparatus for non-invasive glucose monitoring according to claim 1, wherein the light comprises a linear polarized light, a circular polarized light, an elliptical polarized light or a partial polarized light.

6. The apparatus for non-invasive glucose monitoring according to claim 1, wherein the light source has a function for controlling an emitting frequency of the light, a function for controlling an intensity of the light, a function for controlling a length of a turn-on time of the light, a function for controlling a length of a turn-off time of the light or a combination thereof.

7. The apparatus for non-invasive glucose monitoring according to claim 1, further comprising a light information analysis unit for detecting a light information of the light from the first beam splitter before the light is leaded into the eyeball, and then the light information is transmitted to the processing unit, an alarm or a light source control unit to perform feedback control with an optical characteristic of the light.

8. The apparatus for non-invasive glucose monitoring according to claim 7, wherein the light information analysis unit comprises at least one of an optical power meter and an optic sensor, the light information detected by the optical power meter is an energy information whereas the light information detected by the optic sensor is at least one of the energy information and a position information.

9. The apparatus for non-invasive glucose monitoring according to claim 1, wherein the first beam splitter leads the light to focus an anterior chamber of the eyeball, and the reflected light reflected from the eyeball comprises the reflected light reflected from an aqueous humor.

10. The apparatus for non-invasive glucose monitoring according to claim 1, wherein the first beam splitter comprises an optical film, an optical lens, an optical grating, a diffractive optic element or a combination of any the above elements.

11. The apparatus for non-invasive glucose monitoring according to claim 1, wherein the set of photo detectors comprises an optical rotatory distribution measuring device and an energy measuring device, which are respectively measuring the reflected light reflected from the eyeball and then reflected by or passed through the first beam splitter.

12. The apparatus for non-invasive glucose monitoring according to claim 11, wherein the optical rotatory distribution measuring device comprises an active optical rotatory distribution measuring device or at least one passive optical rotatory distribution measuring device.

13. The apparatus for non-invasive glucose monitoring according to claim 12, wherein the active optical rotatory distribution measuring device comprises a analyzer, and the analyzer calculates the optical rotatory distribution information directly.

14. The apparatus for non-invasive glucose monitoring according to claim 12, wherein the passive optical rotatory distribution measuring device comprises a polarizer, the passive device for measuring optical rotatory distribution calculates the optical rotatory distribution information by measuring an energy of the light passed through the polarizer.

15. The apparatus for non-invasive glucose monitoring according to claim 11, wherein the energy measuring device and the optical rotatory distribution measuring device respectively comprise a light sensing element.

16. The apparatus for non-invasive glucose monitoring according to claim 15, wherein the light sensing element comprises a charge-coupled device, a complementary metal oxide semiconductor sensor or a photo diode.

17. The apparatus for non-invasive glucose monitoring according to claim 15, further comprising a light barrier having an opening configured to enable the light to pass through the opening of the light barrier, and then transmit to the light sensing element.

18. The apparatus for non-invasive glucose monitoring according to claim 17, wherein the light barrier comprises a metal photomask or a silica glass photomask.

19. The apparatus for non-invasive glucose monitoring according to claim 1, wherein the biological molecule comprises a cholesterol, an uric acid, a water, a lactic acid, an urea, an ascorbic acid or a combination thereof.

20. The apparatus for non-invasive glucose monitoring according to claim 1, wherein the biological molecule comprises an interference molecule.

21. The apparatus for non-invasive glucose monitoring according to claim 20, wherein the processing unit removes interference caused by the interference molecule during the process of obtaining the glucose information through the processing unit.

22. The apparatus for non-invasive glucose monitoring according to claim 1, wherein the processing unit comprises an analog digital circuit integration module, wherein the analog digital circuit integration module comprises a microprocessor, an amplifier and an analog digital converter.

23. The apparatus for non-invasive glucose monitoring according to claim 22, wherein the analog digital circuit integration module further comprises a wireless transmission device.

24. The apparatus for non-invasive glucose monitoring according to claim 1, wherein the processing unit analyses the optical rotatory distribution information and the absorption energy information from controlling a light quality, an opto-element offset or a combination thereof to obtain the glucose information, and the spatial variation of the light source comprises a light emitting frequency variation, a light energy intensity variation, a length variation of turn-on time of the light or a length variation of turn-off time of the light or a combination thereof.

25. The apparatus for non-invasive glucose monitoring according to claim 1, further comprising a second beam splitter for transmitting the reflected light reflected from the eyeball and then transmitted through the first beam splitter to the set of photo detectors.

26. The apparatus for non-invasive glucose monitoring according to claim 25, wherein the set of photo detectors comprises a first photo detector and a second photo detector, which respectively are used to measure the reflected light reflected by or passed through the second beam splitter.

27. The apparatus for non-invasive glucose monitoring according to claim 26, wherein the first photo detector and the second photo detector respectively comprise an optical rotatory distribution measuring device and an energy measuring device.

28. The apparatus for non-invasive glucose monitoring according to claim 26, wherein one of the first photo detector and the second photo detector is an optical rotatory distribution measuring device, and another one of the first photo detector and the second photo detector is an energy measuring device.

29. The apparatus for non-invasive glucose monitoring according to claim 25, wherein the second beam splitter comprises an optical film, an optical lens, an optical grating, a diffractive optic element or a combination of any the above elements.

30. The apparatus for non-invasive glucose monitoring according to claim 1, further comprising an eye-alignment position device that is used to align a sight of an eye with the eye-alignment position device for performing alignment, so as to determine a measuring position of the eyeball.

31. The apparatus for non-invasive glucose monitoring according to claim 30, wherein the eye-alignment position device comprises a light spot, a marker or a relief pattern.

32. The apparatus for non-invasive glucose monitoring according to claim 1, further comprising a joint element, which is located at a light outlet of the apparatus for non-invasive glucose monitoring, and is used for relying on an outer corner of an eye.

33. The apparatus for non-invasive glucose monitoring according to claim 32, further comprising a protective cover, which is disposed on a surface of the joint element that is used for relying on the outer corner of the eye.

34. The apparatus for non-invasive glucose monitoring according to claim 33, the protective cover comprises a disposable protective cover.

35. A portable mobile device with a non-invasive blood glucose monitoring function, comprising:

a device body;

at least one light source, emitting at least one ray of light;

an optical kit disposed on the device body, comprising a first beam splitter therein, wherein the first beam splitter with a focusing function leads the light emitted from the light source into an eyeball and focuses on the eyeball through the first beam splitter, and then a reflected light reflected from the eyeball is generated;

a set of photo detectors, measuring an optical rotatory distribution information and an absorption energy information of the reflected light, which are reflected from the eyeball and then transmitted through the first beam splitter to the set of photo detectors; and

a processing unit disposed in the device body, receiving and processing the optical rotatory distribution information and the absorption energy information to obtain an optical rotatory distribution difference and an absorption energy difference resulting from the light emitted from the light source and the reflected light transmitted to the set of photo detectors, and to obtain a biological molecule information of a biological molecule, wherein the biological molecule at least comprises a glucose, the processing unit obtains a glucose information through the biological molecule information, the glucose information has a corresponding relationship with a blood glucose information, and the blood glucose information is read through the corresponding relationship.

36. The portable mobile device with a non-invasive blood glucose monitoring function according to claim 35, wherein the light source is disposed in the device body.

37. The portable mobile device with a non-invasive blood glucose monitoring function according to claim 35, wherein the light source is a part of the optical kit.

38. The portable mobile device with a non-invasive blood glucose monitoring function according to claim 35, wherein a wavelength of the light source comprises a glucose absorbable wavelength.

39. The portable mobile device with a non-invasive blood glucose monitoring function according to claim 35, wherein a wavelength of the light source comprises a wavelength of an infrared light.

40. The portable mobile device with a non-invasive blood glucose monitoring function according to claim 35, wherein the light source comprises a light emitting diode or a laser diode.

41. The portable mobile device with a non-invasive blood glucose monitoring function according to claim 35, wherein the light comprises a linear polarized light, a circular polarized light, an elliptical polarized light or a partial polarized light.

42. The portable mobile device with a non-invasive blood glucose monitoring function according to claim 35, wherein the light source has a function for controlling an emitting frequency of the light, a function for controlling an intensity of the light, a function for controlling a length of a turn-on time of the light, a function for controlling a length of a turn-off time of the light or a combination thereof.

43. The portable mobile device with a non-invasive blood glucose monitoring function according to claim 35, further comprising a light information analysis unit for detecting a light information of the light from the first beam splitter before the light is leaded into the eyeball, and then the light information is transmitted to the processing unit, an alarm or a light source control unit to perform feedback control with an optical characteristic of the light.

44. The portable mobile device with a non-invasive blood glucose monitoring function according to claim 43, wherein the light information analysis unit comprises at least one of an optical power meter and an optic sensor, the light information detected by the optical power meter is an energy information, the light information detected by the optic sensor is at least one of the energy information and a position information.

45. The portable mobile device with a non-invasive blood glucose monitoring function according to claim 44, wherein at least one of the optical power meter and the optic sensor is disposed in the device body.

46. The portable mobile device with a non-invasive blood glucose monitoring function according to claim 44, wherein at least one of the optical power meter and the optic sensor is a part of the optical kit.

47. The portable mobile device with a non-invasive blood glucose monitoring function according to claim 35, wherein the first beam splitter focuses the light to an anterior chamber of the eyeball, and the reflected light reflected from the eyeball comprises the reflected light reflected from an aqueous humor.

48. The portable mobile device with a non-invasive blood glucose monitoring function according to claim 35, wherein the first beam splitter comprises an optical film, an optical lens, an optical grating, a diffractive optic element or a combination of any the above elements.

49. The portable mobile device with a non-invasive blood glucose monitoring function according to claim 35, wherein the set of photo detectors comprises an optical rotatory distribution measuring device and energy measuring device, which are measuring the reflected light reflected from the eyeball and then reflected from or passed through the first beam splitter, respectively.

50. The portable mobile device with a non-invasive blood glucose monitoring function according to claim 49, wherein the energy measuring device is disposed in the device body.

51. The portable mobile device with a non-invasive blood glucose monitoring function according to claim 49, wherein the optical rotatory distribution measuring device is disposed in the device body.

52. The portable mobile device with a non-invasive blood glucose monitoring function according to claim 49, wherein the optical rotatory distribution measuring device is a part of the optical kit.

53. The portable mobile device with a non-invasive blood glucose monitoring function according to claim 49, wherein the optical rotatory distribution measuring device comprises an active optical rotatory distribution measuring device or at least one passive optical rotatory distribution measuring device.

54. The portable mobile device with a non-invasive blood glucose monitoring function according to claim 53, wherein the active optical rotatory distribution measuring device comprises an analyzer, and the analyzer calculates the optical rotatory distribution information directly.

55. The portable mobile device with a non-invasive blood glucose monitoring function according to claim 53, wherein the passive optical rotatory distribution measuring device comprises a polarizer, the passive optical rotatory distribution measuring device calculates the optical rotatory distribution information by measuring an energy of the reflected light passed through the polarizer.

56. The portable mobile device with a non-invasive blood glucose monitoring function according to claim 49, wherein the energy measuring device and the optical rotatory distribution measuring device respectively comprise a light sensing element.

57. The portable mobile device with a non-invasive blood glucose monitoring function according to claim 56, wherein the light sensing element comprises a charge-coupled device, a complementary metal oxide semiconductor sensor or a photo diode.

58. The portable mobile device with a non-invasive blood glucose monitoring function according to claim 56, further comprising a light barrier with an opening configured to enable the light to pass through the opening of the light barrier, and then transmit to the light sensing element.

59. The portable mobile device with a non-invasive blood glucose monitoring function according to claim 58, wherein the light barrier comprises a metal photomask or a silica glass photomask.

60. The portable mobile device with a non-invasive blood glucose monitoring function according to claim 35, wherein the biological molecule comprises a cholesterol, an uric acid, a water, a lactic acid, an urea, an ascorbic acid or a combination thereof.

61. The portable mobile device with a non-invasive blood glucose monitoring function according to claim 35, wherein the biological molecule comprises an interference molecule.

62. The portable mobile device with a non-invasive blood glucose monitoring function according to claim 61, wherein the processing unit removes interference caused by the interference molecule during the process of obtaining the glucose information through the processing unit.

63. The portable mobile device with a non-invasive blood glucose monitoring function according to claim 35, wherein the processing unit comprises an analog digital circuit integration module, wherein the analog digital circuit integration module comprises a microprocessor, an amplifier and an analog digital converter.

64. The portable mobile device with a non-invasive blood glucose monitoring function according to claim 63, wherein the analog digital circuit integration module further comprises a wireless transmission device.

65. The portable mobile device with a non-invasive blood glucose monitoring function according to claim 35, the processing unit analyses the optical rotatory distribution information and the absorption energy information from controlling a light quality, an opto-element offset or a combination thereof to obtain the glucose information, and the spatial variation of the light source comprises a light emitting frequency variation, a light energy intensity variation, a length variation of turn-on time of the light or a length variation of turn-off time of the light or a combination thereof.

66. The portable mobile device with a non-invasive blood glucose monitoring function according to claim 35, further comprising a second beam splitter for transmitting the reflected light reflected from the eyeball and then transmitted through the first beam splitter to the set of photo detectors.

67. The portable mobile device with a non-invasive blood glucose monitoring function according to claim 66, wherein the second beam splitter is disposed in the device body.

68. The portable mobile device with a non-invasive blood glucose monitoring function according to claim 66, wherein the second beam splitter is a part of the optical kit.

69. The portable mobile device with a non-invasive blood glucose monitoring function according to claim 66, wherein the set of photo detectors comprises a first optical rotatory distribution measuring device, a first energy measuring device, a second optical rotatory distribution measuring device and a second energy measuring device, which are disposed in the device body, the first optical rotatory distribution measuring device and the first energy measuring device respectively measure the reflected light reflected from the eyeball and then transmitted through the first beam splitter, and the second optical rotatory distribution measuring device and the second energy measuring device are respectively used to measure the reflected light transmitted through the second beam splitter.

70. The portable mobile device with a non-invasive blood glucose monitoring function according to claim 66, wherein the set of photo detectors comprises a first photo detector and a second photo detector, which respectively are used to measure the reflected light reflected by or passed through the second beam splitter.

71. The portable mobile device with a non-invasive blood glucose monitoring function according to claim 70, wherein the first photo detector and the second photo detector respectively comprise an optical rotatory distribution measuring device and an energy measuring device.

72. The portable mobile device with a non-invasive blood glucose monitoring function according to claim 70, wherein one of the first photo detector and the second photo detector is an optical rotatory distribution measuring device, and another one of the first photo detector and the second photo detector is an energy measuring device.

73. The portable mobile device with a non-invasive blood glucose monitoring function according to claim 66, wherein the second beam splitter comprises an optical film, an optical lens, an optical grating, a diffractive optic element or a combination of any the above elements.

74. The portable mobile device with a non-invasive blood glucose monitoring function according to claim 35, wherein the set of photo detectors comprises a plurality of optical rotatory distribution measuring devices and an energy measuring device when the first beam splitter transmits a plurality of rays of light, wherein the optical rotatory distribution measuring devices and a plurality of sensing regions of the energy measuring device respectively are used to measure the corresponding light.

75. The portable mobile device with a non-invasive blood glucose monitoring function according to claim 35, wherein the optical kit further comprises a lens set.

76. The portable mobile device with a non-invasive blood glucose monitoring function according to claim 75, wherein the optical kit is integrated as a camera lens in a camera module when the optical kit has the lens set.

77. The portable mobile device with a non-invasive blood glucose monitoring function according to claim 35, further comprising an eye-alignment position device that is used to align a sight of an eye with the eye-alignment position device for performing alignment to determine a measuring position of the eyeball.

78. The portable mobile device with a non-invasive blood glucose monitoring function according to claim 77, wherein the eye-alignment position device comprises a light spot, a marker or a relief pattern.

79. The portable mobile device with a non-invasive blood glucose monitoring function according to claim 35, further comprising a joint element, wherein an end of the joint element is connected to a light outlet of the portable mobile device with a non-invasive blood glucose monitoring function, and another end of the joint element is used for relying on an outer corner of an eye.

80. The portable mobile device with a non-invasive blood glucose monitoring function according to claim 79, further comprising a protective cover, which is disposed on a surface of the joint element that is used for relying on the outer corner of the eye.

81. The portable mobile device with a non-invasive blood glucose monitoring function according to claim 80, wherein the protective cover comprises a disposable protective cover.