Glucose Meter
a hand-powered glucose meter, ideal for diabetics
who do not have easily-accessible replacement batteries
Design Objectives:
• Design a hand-powered electronic device
• Design and build a reliable glucose meter that does not need replaceable batteries
• Design should be robust and portable
• The device must be powered with a simple motion
Partner:
• Ben Stewart
Research:
“Diabetes affects the body’s ability to use blood sugar for energy.” (1)
Type 1 Diabetics must monitor their glucose levels at minimum after every meal and they need to use a glucose meter, lancets, lancing device, and test strips each time they test. They typically always carry these items everywhere.
If a glucose meter’s battery runs out of power, the diabetic needs to know his or her blood glucose levels immediately and must promptly buy a new watch battery from a nearby store to check glucose levels quickly.
There is a pertinent market need for a glucose meter that does not rely on batteries.
Reference (1) http:diabetes.webmd.com
Interesting survey results from Type 1 diabetics revealed that many diabetics simply throw away their glucose meter when the battery runs out of power (after approximately 6 months - 1 year) because their doctors often give away free glucose meters.
With so many glucose meters being discarded into landfills, this was an opportunity to design a new glucose meter that depends on an alternative, more reliable, power source. Not only is discarding glucose meters harmful to the environment, but not all people can afford the luxury of owning multiple meters.
Diabetes is becoming more prevalent in developing countries and the World Diabetes Foundation estimates that 7.8% of the world’s population, 438 million people, will have diabetes by the year 2030. 70% of these cases will occur in low and middle income countries.(2) Most of these people do not have easy access to a local store that sells the watch batteries that are required by most meters on today’s market. A hand-powered glucose meter is an advantageous solution for diabetics in developing countries.
My studio partner and I decided to design a robust glucose meter that could be powered by a simple hand movement to solve this challenge.
Reference (2) http://www.worlddiabetesfoundation.org/composite-35.htm
Concept:
SolidWorks renderings by Ben Stewart
SolidWorks rendering by Ben Stewart