Non-invasive glucose monitoring using open electromagnetic waveguides

Abstract

This paper presents a novel approach towards non-invasive glucose measurement. The introduced concept is based on an electromagnetic (EM) wave transmission along blood vessels. Theoretical investigation of a TEM wave propagation through a aqueous glucose solution is shown. The concept was evaluated by a simplified demonstrator which consists of a dielectric covered TEM-Waveguide. A 3D field simulation of the structure has been performed with a glucose dependent Debye relaxation model. The EM waveguide was fabricated and measured with various glucose concentrations. A phase difference of 12 deg for a 500mg/dl variation in glucose concentration was measured at 20GHz.