Minimally Invasive Pseudo-Continuous Blood Glucose Monitoring: Results From In-Vitro And In-Vivo Testing Of The Etac

This paper presents the eTac, a smart shoe for autonomous blood glucose monitoring (BGM) that aims at replacing finger-pricking tests used by diabetic patients. The device works as the user is walking: an actuator mechanism harnesses natural forces exerted by the user's body weight to drive an electronically-controlled lancet penetrating the skin at the toe tip, and to aid in the extraction of a whole blood sample from subcutaneous capillaries. The blood sample is then collected and blood glucose concentration (BGC) is measured directly from it in-situ. In-vivo human testing results demonstrate the feasibility of the method.