Nanoparticles — is there anything they can't do? — embedded in the hydrogel lenses react with glucose molecules in naturally occurring tears. A chemical reaction then causes the lenses to shift their hues, alerting the wearer to falling or spiking blood sugar levels. The wearer can then make the appropriate adjustments to his or her blood sugar, all without having to carry around (and use) devices for drawing and analyzing blood.

U. of Western Ontario Professor Jin Zhang has just collected $216,000 from the Canada Foundation for Innovation as a result of the breakthrough process to develop other applications for multifunctional nanocomposites, which can be used in everything from biomedicine to food preservation to packaging. We think a head-up display for glucose levels is pretty good, but if nanocomposites can also make the packaging on that blood-sugar-leveling candy bar biodegrade more quickly, all the better. [Institute of Nanotechnology]

Popular Science is your wormhole to the future. Reporting on what's new and what's next in science and technology, we deliver the future now.

The ink is made up of a bunch of tiny spheres, about 120 nanometers across, that contain "the glucose detecting molecule, a color-changing dye, and another molecule that mimics glucose." Those molecules are moving around in the spheres, and when they near the surface, they grab onto either glucose or the molecule that mimics glucose. If they mostly latch onto real glucose, the ink (and consequently the tattoo) will look yellow, but if they grab the fake glucose, the tatt will look purple, indicating a low level of glucose in the bloodstream.

Apparently the tattoo itself doesn't need to be a full-sleeve naked pirate lady design or anything; it can be only a few millimeters across and get the job done. The tech is still a couple years off, but it's a much more immediate and constant monitor of the blood than having to prick and swab a few times a day. [Crunchgear]

The chip is much more precise than the finger pricking method for monitoring blood, and in diabetes sufferers, can minimize the risk of complications like blindness and kidney failure. The first glucose-monitoring and osteoporosis drug-releasing chips will begin human clinical trials next year. MicroCHIPS is looking into developing more advanced versions that can predict heart or kidney failure, biodegrade in the body, and release multiple vaccine or drug doses over time. [Popsci]

I never thought about this before, but driving around in a car can be especially dangerous for people with severe cases of diabetes. Fortunately for them (and everyone else on the road), a company called Medtronic Diabetes has unveiled its new M-POWERED car—a Lincoln sedan fitted with a system that wirelessly connects a patient's glucose monitor with the dashboard. Once connected, the system will continually update the driver's on his/her health status via audio and visual cues. There is no word on whether or not this system will actually be available for patients anytime soon however. [Medgadget]

A portable unit of what they've had in hospitals for years, a user simply urinates on the sensor (a la home pregnancy tests) to measure the urine sugar level. Results take roughly six seconds. It's not exactly the same as a blood sugar level, but the measurement should provide correlative evidence as to how much sugar is running rampant in one's blood stream.

The unit will run $154 when it's released. Each sensor cartridge is good for 200 uses and will cost $58 to replace. [TechOn]

A student at Braunschweig University of Art called Nicole Schmeidel came up with the idea after watching a film of an 8-year old kid using a clunky insulin pump. Her device, named COR, combines a better delivery system with wrist-watch styling that she hopes will improve the quality of life of diabetics. Multiple piezo-electric transducers, originally designed for European satellites, turn the movements of the wearer into electrical current, which is then stored and used to drive pumps that deliver insulin intravenously.

Nicole intends it to look "like a watch and not a medical device," so its display switches to watch mode when the pump is not operating. The design won an award at the recent Design Technology Student Awards at the Materialica trade fair in Munich, so she is hoping to get COR into production and onto the wrists of diabetes sufferers as soon as possible. – Kit Eaton
[ESA via Eureka]

The concept has been around for years, but is only being released now due to a 3 year struggle with Nintendo for approval to manufacture the device. Why Nintendo dragged their feet on this one is a mystery. Do they have something against kids with juvenile diabetes or what? All that aside, the device is now available in Australia for around $260. Plans are in the works to make the Glucoboy available worldwide in the near future. [Product Page via Next Gen via Joystiq]

The system works by implanting a glucose-sensing RFID microchip into the patient. The chip can more accurately measure glucose levels and report it back to a digital scanner that also powers the device. Digital Angel just received their patent this week, so expect it to still be years before this product is actually available, until then—keep on prickin'. Thanks, Anthony – Travis Hudson

Press Release [BusinessWire]

Product Page [HealthPia]

The device is battery operated and includes 2 subunits: Main Unit, containing Display and Control, Transmitter, Receiver and Processor, and "Earring" unit, containing Sensors and Calibration Electronics, to be attached (externally clipped) to the earlobe, so that the monitoring is done non-invasively.

If this device makes it through its trials, soon diabetics will be able to quickly check their blood sugar levels without that pin-pricking routine that becomes such a daily annoyance.

The GlucoTrack [medGadget]

In the Works: A No-Prick Glucometer [Medgadget]