Pain-Free Blood Glucose Monitoring Using Wearable Sensors: Recent Advancements and Future Prospects

Abstract

Keeping track of blood glucose levels non-invasively is now possible due to diverse breakthroughs in wearable sensors technology coupled with advanced biomedical signal processing. However, each user might have different requirements and priorities when it comes to selecting a self-monitoring solution. After extensive research and careful selection, we have presented a comprehensive survey on noninvasive/pain-free blood glucose monitoring methods from the recent five years (2012-2016). Several techniques, from bioinformatics, computer science, chemical engineering, microwave technology, etc., are discussed in order to cover a wide variety of solutions available for different scales and preferences. We categorize the noninvasive techniques into nonsample- and sample-based techniques, which we further grouped into optical, nonoptical, intermittent, and continuous. The devices manufactured or being manufactured for noninvasive monitoring are also compared in this paper. These techniques are then analyzed based on certain constraints, which include time efficiency, comfort, cost, portability, power consumption, etc., a user might experience. Recalibration, time, and power efficiency are the biggest challenges that require further research in order to satisfy a large number of users. In order to solve these challenges, artificial intelligence (AI) has been employed by many researchers. AI-based estimation and decision models hold the future of noninvasive glucose monitoring in terms of accuracy, cost effectiveness, portability, efficiency, etc. The significance of this paper is twofold: first, to bridge the gap between IT and medical field; and second, to bridge the gap between end users and the solutions (hardware and software).