Innovation Zed Ltd, which is focused on developing technologies to improve the health and quality of life for individuals living with diabetes, has announced the expansion of a research project evaluating a non-invasive Continuous Glucose Monitoring (CGM) system.

The monitoring of glucose fluctuations is a vital aspect for the acute control of diabetes and improved long term health outcomes, making it a significant component in the daily life of people with diabetes. Commercial BGM (blood glucose monitoring) systems require a finger prick while current CGM systems require the insertion of a filament underneath the skin, resulting in small wounds that can cause pain and infections.

Multi-sensor approach

With funding under the Irish Research Council’s Enterprise Partnership Scheme, Innovation Zed, a NovaUCD client company, is collaborating with University College Dublin (UCD), on a research project focused on advancing a non-invasive, multi-sensor approach to recording acute changes in the blood glucose levels of people living with diabetes.

Dr Dean Minnock, CEO, Innovation Zed: “We pride ourselves on taking on complex technological challenges with our sole aim of easing the stresses caused by diabetes. There is a clear need for alternative options for monitoring glucose levels which should be non-invasive, painless, discreet, and easy to use. This project is a further step in the right direction and through this collaboration we are advancing our research into a non-invasive CGM system.”

Dr Rui Wu, a post-doctoral research fellow in the UCD School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering is the lead researcher on this project and is being supported in this project by Professor Madeleine Lowery, UCD School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering.

Challenging project

"I am delighted to be involved in this project and to be working with Innovation Zed on this fascinating project. This area of research is something I am extremely passionate about, and I greatly appreciate having the opportunity to lead this challenging project is and to drive it in a new direction," said Dr Wu.

Innovation Zed has already brought to market various technologies to support multiple daily injection (MDI) insulin users with add-on technology that automatically collects essential usage data that informs insulin pen users of their injection history and trends under the 'InsulCheck' brand.

Dr Minnock added: “This project is the latest addition to several exciting projects being undertaken by Innovation Zed This is also the first of many fascinating announcements we will be making over the next 12 months. Our strategy of bringing cutting edge diabetes management technologies to a wider audience is advancing strongly, and we are constantly improving on our portfolio of offerings.”