Glucose Monitoring with Lasers

200 million estimated people with diabetes might one day utilize laser research going on at the University of Michigan to painlessly read their glucose levels. Professor Mohammed Islam is leading the reconstruction of super continuum lasers he designed to aid the military detect the chemical composition in camouflage nets and explosives into a non-invasive tool to measure a teaspoon of glucose in the blood system. The brightness of the laser now increases the signal by several orders of magnitude from the traditionally used tungsten and halogen lamps.

With the right commercial partners, Professor Islam hopes to combine the project’s electrical processing and algorithms into an easy to use headset that would eliminate the pain associated with daily glucose monitoring through needle induced blood sampling.

Professor Mohammed Islam has founded six companies and was the first to receive the University of Michigan’s Distinguished University Innovator Award. His company responsible for developing the technology for non-invasive glucose monitoring, Omni MedSci, Inc., was recently listed by Crain’s as one of the top 25 most innovative companies in SE Michigan. He is a Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Internal Medicine and Biomedical Engineering at the University of Michigan.