One minute is all it takes, say developers of a new gadget designed to detect diabetes. This sounds too cool to be true, but here's how the Scout DS works: put your arm on the device (see pic), which is a desktop-friendly size, and let it "read" your skin for pre-diabetes and Type 2 diabetes-related biomarkers. These "biomarkers" are concentrations of advanced glycation endproducts (AGEs) that show up on the skin of diabetics when examined under a beam of light. The light beam contains multiple light wavelengths, which cause the AGEs to glow with a fluorescent light. An additional test would be administered to confirm a positive result.The Scout DS is manufactured by VeraLight Inc., a New Mexico-based company. According to VeraLight, an early study (published in Diabetes Care) showed the system outperforms the usual diabetes diagnostic standbys: the fasting plasma glucose test and the A1C test. If successful, the Scout could be a boon to doctors and patients alike because it gets results fast, is non-invasive (no blood sample required), convenient (no fasting, no waiting), while the device itself is designed to be portable (it weighs about ten pounds), therefore maximizing the potential situations in which it could be used. Think: mobile clinics of the future visiting under-served parts of rural and urban America.
The Scout has been in the works for a while, but it is being officially unveiled tomorrow at the American Diabetes Association annual meeting, which is currently underway in Chicago. Think of this as a sneak preview: the Scout remains in development for now. While VeraLight would like to have it out on the market by sometime next year, that all hinges on it getting government approval when the testing process is complete.
