Scientists from the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) will revolutionize the control of diabetes with a microchip that will monitor in real time the levels of glucose and insulin of patients.
Catalina Stern, leader of the "Biosensors for Diabetes Monitoring" project that won the Google Research Award in Latin America last week, said in an interview with Efe that the microchip will be completed at the end of 2016.
Graduated in Physics and Science Doctor, Stern said that the project is developed by 40 percent, and "when finished it will be a great contribution" for disease care, which now affects 14 million people in Mexico.
The project is developed by two scientists and two doctoral applicants in response to requests from doctors who want to have mechanisms to monitor their patients, he said.
In the coming months it will be tested in patients and at the end of 2016 the presentation and the final price will be decided, although the team considers that "it will be very economical."
"We want to have the chip, say this is going to be the patent and we will market it like this, how it will be presented, on the bracelet or in a box, we will need a designer," said the researcher.
He said it will be the first simultaneous meter because in the market there are devices to know the glucose levels, but for insulin it is necessary to do laboratory tests that can take hours.
Stern explained that a drop of blood will suffice so that the microchip can detect glucose and insulin levels in real time and immediately send the results to a phone, a tablet or a computer.
This device can be of significant importance in a health system "that is not supplied" to serve millions of patients as in Mexico.
Doctors can see the results on their computer, have a measurement history and, in this way, they can identify patients who require immediate care, he explained.
In addition, users can detect what products are hurt and they can measure it day by day.
"People who think they will develop the disease can measure and start taking care of them years in advance so that they do not develop it totally or at least well cared for," said the expert.
On the Google award, he said that he has motivated the team, since the funds obtained will allow them to acquire materials and travel to international forums to disseminate the results of the project.
"(Team members) are delighted, they are proud and they are working more because they already know that now they have to end for their doctorates and everyone is aware of what they are doing," he said.
From 2000 diabetes is the first cause of death among women and the second among men in Mexico and projections suggest that in 2015 some 100,000 people will lose their lives for this disease, 19 % more than the deaths of 2010.
In the world there are 347 million people with diabetes and in 2030 it will be the seventh world cause of death, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).
Diabetes patients record high blood glucose levels because they do not produce enough insulin, the hormone that transforms sugar into energy, or does not use it properly, which generates complications over time, such as blindness,renal failure and sexual impotence.
