Evaluation of a near-infrared light ultrasound system as a non-invasive blood glucose monitoring device

The aim of this study was to evaluate the newly developed non-invasive blood glucose system NIRLUS® (Near-Infra Red Light Ultra Sound; NIRLUS Engineering AG, Lübeck, Germany) under standardized conditions. Seventeen healthy men of normal weight (body mass index 22.4 ± 1.4 kg/m2), aged 18 to 45 years, were enrolled in this study. During an intravenous glucose tolerance test, blood glucose profiles were measured simultaneously using the NIRLUS system and a “gold standard” laboratory reference system. Correlation analysis revealed a strong association between NIRLUS and reference values (r = 0.934; P <0.001). Subsequent Bland–Altman analysis showed a symmetric distribution (r = 0.047; P = 0.395), and 95.5% of the NIRLUS–reference pairs were within the difference (d) of d ± 2 SD. The median deviation of all paired NIRLUS–reference values was 0.5 mmol/L and the mean percent deviation was 11.5%. Error grid analysis showed that 93.6% of NIRLUS–reference pairs are located in the area A, and 6.4% in the area B. No data were allocated in the areas C to E. This proof-of-concept study demonstrates the reproducibility of accurate blood glucose measures obtained by NIRLUS as compared to a gold standard laboratory reference system. The technology of NIRLUS is an important step forward in the development of non-invasive glucose monitoring.