Researchers from Ruijin Hospital and Shanghai Photonic View Technology Co. have devised a noninvasive method to monitor blood glucose by simply placing a palm on a monitoring device.

The team used optical coherence tomography technology to determine the distribution range of human epidermal thickness, enabling multiple μ-spatially offset Raman spectroscopy (mμSORS).

Optical coherence tomography enables simultaneous detection of subcutaneous tissues at different depths while effectively reducing background signal interference from the epidermis, enhancing Raman glucose monitoring accuracy.

Clinical studies involving 200 patients with diabetes and 30 healthy individuals confirmed that the average absolute error between the noninvasive blood glucose readings and venous blood glucose readings was 14.6 percent, with 99.4 percent of the noninvasive readings falling within the acceptable range regarding clinical error.

According to the authors, the technology doesn’t require calibration for different individuals, and is suitable for diverse populations across various age groups, skin colors and body shapes, laying the foundation for future large-scale applications.