Fabrication of Nanosensor for the detection of Blood Glucose Levels in breath of diabetic patients

PI: Dr. Khaled Saoud

Collaborating Institution: Qatar Academy

The development of non-invasive techniques for the detection of glucose levels in people with diabetes received much attention in the most recent years mainly due to health effects associated with high glucose levels in patients which leads to many health-related problems such as kidney failure, blindness, heart diseases, and premature death in some cases. Continuous monitoring and accurate testing of glucose levels are crucial for effective diagnosis and treatment of diabetes mellitus. Therefore, it is critical to utilize the recent development in the field of nanomaterials and devices to develop a suitable detection sensor that is sensitive, selective, and stable with rapid response times for accurate measurement of blood glucose levels. In this project, we propose the fabrication of fast and responsive nanosensor capable of measuring a real-time blood glucose level. The proposed sensor can detect blood glucose levels by the direct correlation between blood glucose levels and the concentration of acetone in the exhaled breath. The goal of the project is to provide the basis for nanosensor development that has the potential for rapid, real-time measurement of acetone. Research efforts will focus towards a nonstoichiometric metal oxide semiconductor sensor that can be placed in direct contact with the patient’s breath stream to obtain precise measurements of acetone concentration. The fabricated sensor can offer low cost, long life, and good sensitivity to acetone capable of indicating the concentration of the blood sugar via a unique relationship between the concentration of the acetone and the internal sensor resistance. The concentration of the acetone will be displayed in parts per million. To alert the patient of the high blood sugar, an alarm will be set on when a specific acetone concentration is exceeded.

https://qatar.vcu.edu/news/vcuarts-qatar-physicists-research-places-second-in-qnrfs-national-science-r

Funding: HSREP, QNRF