Continuous Glucose Monitoring - On The Horizon: Diabetes

Content provided by the Faculty of the Harvard Medical School

Continuous glucose monitoring

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Reliable, continuous blood glucose monitoring has been the holy grail of diabetes management for more than 30 years. Although two devices for this purpose have been approved (see "GlucoWatch Biographer," and "MiniMed Continuous Glucose Monitoring System"), they require further improvements before they are widely useful. The ultimate goal, of course, is to develop a device that patients can use to obtain accurate, frequent glucose results. This would be particularly helpful for patients with hypoglycemia unawareness (see "Understanding hypoglycemia") who are at high risk for severe hypoglycemia. Continuous monitoring would warn them of impending low glucose levels, thus making it easier for them to manage their diabetes. Researchers are investigating several noninvasive strategies including the use of new infrared spectroscopy or implantable sensors. Continued improvements in monitoring research should result in effective solutions in the next five years.

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Last updated:	January 23, 2007

Medical content reviewed by the Faculty of the Harvard Medical School. Harvard Health Publications, Copyright © 2007 by President and Fellows of Harvard College. All rights reserved. Used with permission of StayWell.

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