Optical Coherence Tomography for blood glucose monitoring through signal attenuation

Abstract

Development of non-invasive techniques for glucose monitoring is crucial to improve glucose control and treatment adherence in patients with diabetes. Hereafter, Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT) may offer a good alternative for portable glucometers, since it uses light to probe samples. Changes in the object of interest can alter the intensity of light returning from the sample and, through it, one can estimate the sample's attenuation coefficient (μt) of light. In this work, we aimed to explore the behavior of μt of mouse’s blood under increasing glucose concentrations. Different samples were prepared in four glucose concentrations using a mixture of heparinized blood, phosphate buffer saline and glucose. Blood glucose concentrations were measured with a blood glucometer, for reference. We have also prepared other samples diluting the blood in isotonic saline solution to check the effect of a higher multiple-scattering component on the ability of the technique to differentiate glucose levels based on μt. The OCT system used was a commercial Spectral Radar OCT with 930 nm central wavelength and spectral bandwidth (FWHM) of 100 nm. The system proved to be sensitive for all blood glucose concentrations tested, with good correlations with the obtained attenuation coefficients. A linear tendency was observed, with an increase in attenuation with higher values of glucose. Statistical difference was observed between all groups (p<0.001). This work opens the possibility towards a non-invasive diagnostic modality using OCT for glycemic control, which eliminates the use of analytes and/or test strips, as in the case with commercially available glucometers.