A Simple Image Processing Technique for Non-invasive Blood Glucose Monitoring

Abstract

Diabetes Mellitus causes impaired blood glucose levels due to imbalance in insulin synthesis and if not carefully monitored affects multiple systems in the body leading to loss of vision/limbs, failure of vital organs like kidney, pancreas, etc. Continuous glucose monitoring thus is critical in the management of diabetes. The present study aims to develop a non-invasive method, that is safe, affordable, patient friendly, and practical for routine glucose monitoring using saliva. Two colorimetric methods were developed using chromogenic substrates such as potassium iodide (yellow colour - Method 1) and a combination of 4 Amino anti-pyrine and phenol (pink colour - Method 2) for the estimation of glucose in saliva. The present study involves the development of a paper-based biosensor for non-invasive blood glucose monitoring. The different intensities of the colour developed were captured using a mobile camera and subjected to an image processing technique (grey scaling). Further, statistical analysis of various parameters was carried out to predict the validity of the results obtained.