FTIR spectroscopy of glucose

Abstract: Approximately 450 000 people have diabetes in Sweden today, and the number of diabetics only rises. Monitoring blood sugar several times a day is a fundamental part of managing the disease, and reducing the risks of complications. Today’s glucose monitoring devices are invasive and require small needle sticks for a measurement. Providing a painless method of monitoring the blood sugar level would relieve the lives of diabetics world-wide.   The objective of this project was to investigate the absorption spectra of aqueous glucose concentrations (100 to 5000 mg/dl) in the mid infrared region with Fourier Transform spectroscopy (FTIR), and finally implementing a hand-held monochromatic spectrometer to demonstrate a non-invasive concept. The method chosen for implementing the hand-held demo is due to the commercial availability of diodes and detectors at those wavelengths.   The results from the FTIR showed a trend among concentrations in all wavelengths, in between 1180 to 980 cm-1, specifically at 1035 cm-1, but also in the region 2920 to 2850 cm-1. The hand-held spectrometer did not register any transmittance of the glucose samples. For future implementations, 1035 cm-1 should be investigated more in-depth for a hand-held device.