Around 30 million Americans have diabetes. For many of them, they take out a blood glucose device multiple times to prick their fingers and test their blood sugar levels.
It’s an uncomfortable feeling that millions of people, like Kennesaw State University (KSU) researcher Maria Valero’s father, eventually get used to.
“After watching my father go through that, I wanted to create something less invasive,” said Valero.
Valero, an assistant professor of information technology at Kennesaw State’s College of Computing and Software Engineering (CCSE) and director of KSU’s Internet of Things (IoT) as a Service Research Group, is on a mission to improve the glucose monitoring process for people affected by diabetes worldwide.
Using funding from the College and a lot of trial and error, Valero and her team created a non-invasive process that can identify the exact value of blood glucose with 90% accuracy without taking a blood sample.
The GlucoCheck process they developed uses light shone through human tissue—whether in the ear or finger—and a small camera to capture images on the other side. Valero’s team then studies the amount of light absorption in those images to determine blood glucose concentration. The process sounds simple now, but it took countless hours of research and experimentation to reach this point.
“Our pilot study was very successful. We are excited about how this device will help people with diabetes, which affects about one in every 10 people in the United States.” Maria Valero
Taking the next step, Valero and her team recently filed a provisional patent application with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office to protect the process they created. Director of Kennesaw State’s Office of Intellectual Property Development, Chris Cornelison held an instrumental role in this phase, helping Valero sift through research projects around the world to make sure that GlucoCheck is unique and patentable.
“The way we gather and output the data is novel, and we will continue to work on ways to improve the glucose estimation model,” Valero said. So far, they tested the process on nearly 50 people, but before filing a full patent next summer, they’ll assess how the process works on people with a range of skin pigmentations and skin thicknesses.
Valero’s students, inspired by her dedication and vision, already created a mobile phone application and are working on connecting GlucoCheck to Amazon’s virtual assistant, Alexa. “I am very fortunate to have great students who are extremely motivated and bring a wealth of knowledge to this project,” Valero said. “Watching them grow as researchers who want to make a difference in the world using technology is very rewarding.”
Paola Spoletini, Associate Dean of CCSE and Professor of Software Engineering, sees Valero’s work as a great example of what can be achieved when passion and innovation come together. “Dr. Valero is passionate about using technology to make a difference in the world, and she is an incredible asset to our College,” Spoletini said. “Not only is she developing cutting-edge technologies, but she also serves as a mentor and role model to her students.”
Valero works closely with Hossain Shahriar, Associate Professor of Information Technology, and Katherine Ingram, Associate Professor of Exercise Science. Ingram, who researches gestational diabetes risk, shares Valero’s drive to change lives through research. Shahriar’s focus on health information technology, data analytics, and cybersecurity has been crucial in securing the integrity of their data. Their collective efforts recently culminated in a paper detailing the pilot study, which was accepted into the Journal of Medical Internet Research—a milestone that further fueled Valero’s research.
With the data from their study, she has already applied for additional funding, determined to continue pushing the boundaries of what’s possible.