Non-invasive glucose sensor system

• US 4,014,321 A
• Filed: 10/06/1975
• Issued: 03/29/1977
• Est. Priority Date: 11/25/1974
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Wayne F. March
• Original Assignee: Wayne F. March
• Inventors: March, Wayne F.
• Primary Examiner(s): Howell, Kyle L.
• Application Number:
  US05/619,954
• Time in Patent Office: 540 Days
• Field of Search: 128/2 A, 128/2 L, 128/2 T, 128/2 E, 128/2.1 E, 351/9, 356/39-41, 356/51
• US Class Current: 600/319
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/14555 specially adapted for the eye fundus
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/14558 by polarisation
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/6821 Eye
• CPC Class Codes: G02C 7/04 Contact lenses for the eyes disinfection or sterilisation of contact lenses A61L12/00

Abstract

A unique glucose sensor to determine the glucose level in patients, for example, for use in treating or diagnosing diabetes. The patient'"'"'s eye is automatically scanned using a dual source of polarized radiation, each transmitting at a different wavelength at one side of the cornea of the patient. A sensor located at the other side of the cornea detects the optical rotation of the radiation that passed through the cornea. The level of glucose in the bloodstream of the patient is a function of the amount of the optical rotation of the radiation detected at the other side of the cornea of the patient. The result is transmitted to a remote receiver that is coupled to a readout device to thereby provide non-invasive glucose determinations of high specificity and reliability.

Claims

1. A non-invasive glucose sensor system for determining the sugar content in a user'"'"'s blood,

said system comprising radiation emitting means for emitting radiation of certain wavelengths,

radiation detecting means for detecting the emitted radiation,

said radiation detecting means spaced apart from but in line with said radiation emitting means,

means for mounting said radiation emitting means and radiation detecting means so that said radiation is capable of being transmitted through the cornea of the user'"'"'s eye, and

enabling means for enabling said detecting means to determine the optical rotation of the radiation occurring in the cornea.

2. The non-invasive glucose sensor system of claim 1 wherein said enabling means comprises an optical polarizing system,

said optical polarizing system including first polarizing means for polarizing said emitted radiation prior to the transmission thereof through the cornea, and

second polarizing means mounted on the detector side of said cornea and rotated with respect to said first polarizing means.

3. The non-invasive glucose sensor system of claim 1 wherein said radiation emitting means comprises a pair of laser emitters operating at different wavelengths.

4. The non-invasive glucose sensor system of claim 1 wherein said means for mounting said radiation emitting means and said radiation detecting means comprises contact lens means.

5. The non-invasive glucose sensor system of claim 4 wherein said contact lens means are opaque to infrared radiation and wherein the radiation traveling from said radiation emitting means to said radiation detecting means does not pass through said contact lens means.

6. The non-invasive glucose sensor system of claim 5 wherein said contact lens means is a soft scleral contact lens.

7. The non-invasive glucose sensor system of claim 1 wherein means are provided for transmitting a signal that is a function of the detected radiation obtained from said radiation detector means and receiving means for receiving said transmitted signal to provide an indication of the glucose content of the user'"'"'s blood.

8. The non-invasive glucose sensor system of claim 7 wherein said receiving means includes logic means for providing the solution to the following equation:

##EQU3## wherein;

c = Concentration of glucose in %

α

₁ = Optical rotation in degrees at 0.98 micron

α

1 2 = Optical rotation in degrees at 0.78 micron

k = Proportionality constant

I₁ = amplitude of telemetry signal resulting from laser operating at a wavelength of 0.98 micron

I₂ = amplitude of telemetry signal resulting from laser operating at a wavelength of 0.78 micron

space="preserve" listing-type="tabular">______________________________________ STEP EQUATION DERIVATION ______________________________________ A cos.sup.2 α

= I From Polarized Light W. A. Shurcliff and S. S. Ballard, Van Nostrand Co., p. 67, 1964. B ##STR6## Identity C ##STR7## ##STR8## From A and C ##STR9## D ##STR10## ______________________________________

but

E kc = α

and

F k₁ c = α

₁

G k₂ c = α

₂

space="preserve" listing-type="equation">k.sub.1 c - k.sub.2 c = α

.sub.1 - α

.sub.2 . . . Subtracting G from F

space="preserve" listing-type="equation">k.sub.1 = 0.90, k.sub.2 = 0.035. . . Experimentally determined ##EQU4##

9. A method of obtaining the sugar content of a person non-invasively, said method comprising the steps of:

generating a pair of radiation rays and polarizing said pair of radiation rays;

transmitting said polarized radiation rays through the cornea of a patient'"'"'s eye;

filtering said polarized radiation rays received from said cornea through a polarized filter; and

detecting the filtered polarized radiation rays which have been passed through the cornea of the patient'"'"'s eyes; and

translating the detected radiation rays to obtain a readout indicative of the sugar content of the patient'"'"'s blood.

10. The method of claim 9 wherein said pair of radiation rays comprises a first radiation ray having a wavelength of 0.98 micron and a second radiation ray having a wavelength of 0.78 micron.

11. The method of claim 9 including the step of blocking out extraneous infrared radiation.

12. The method of claim 9 wherein said radiation rays are transmitted for 50 nanoseconds every millisecond.

13. The method of claim 12 including the step of:

mounting said radiation generating and transmitting means and optical rotation detecting means as well as transmitter means onto a contact lens and placing the contact lens in the patient'"'"'s eye.

14. The method of claim 9 including the steps of:

transmitting a signal that is a function of the detected radiation;

receiving the signal that is a function of the detected signal; and

translating the received signal into a digital readout indicative of the sugar content of the person'"'"'s blood.

15. The method of claim 14 wherein said translating comprises solving the equation:

##EQU5## wherein;

c = Concentration of glucose in %

α

₁ = Optical rotation in degrees at 0.98 micron

α

₂ = Optical rotation in degrees at 0.78 micron

k = Proportionality constant

I₁ = amplitude of telemetry signal resulting from laser operating at a wavelength of 0.98 micron

I₂ = amplitude of telemetry signal resulting from laser operating at a wavelength of 0.78 micron

space="preserve" listing-type="tabular">__________________________________________________________________________STEP EQUATION DERIVATION __________________________________________________________________________A cos.sup.2 α

= I From Polarized Light W. A. Shurcliff and S. S. Ballard, Von Nostrand Co., p. 67, B ##STR11## Identity C ##STR12## ##STR13## From A &

C ##STR14## D ##STR15## but E kc = α

and F k.sub.1 c = α

.sub.1 G k.sub.2 c = α

.sub.2 k.sub.1 c - k.sub.2 c = α

.sub.1 - α

.sub.2 Subtracting G from F k.sub.1 = 0.90, k.sub.2 = 0.035 Experimentally determined H ##STR16## ##STR17## Substituting for α

from step __________________________________________________________________________ D.