Wearable Insulin Biosensors for Diabetes Management: Advances and Challenges

Abstract

We present a critical review of the current progress in wearable insulin biosensors. For over 40 years, glucose biosensors have been used for diabetes management. Measurement of blood glucose is an indirect method for calculating the insulin administration dosage, which is critical for insulin-dependent diabetic patients. Research and development efforts aiming towards continuous-insulin-monitoring biosensors in combination with existing glucose biosensors are expected to offer a more accurate estimation of insulin sensitivity, regulate insulin dosage and facilitate progress towards development of a reliable artificial pancreas, as an ultimate goal in diabetes management and personalised medicine. Conventional laboratory analytical techniques for insulin detection are expensive and time-consuming and lack a real-time monitoring capability. On the other hand, biosensors offer point-of-care testing, continuous monitoring, miniaturisation, high specificity and sensitivity, rapid response time, ease of use and low costs. Current research, future developments and challenges in insulin biosensor technology are reviewed and assessed. Different insulin biosensor categories such as aptamer-based, molecularly imprinted polymer (MIP)-based, label-free and other types are presented among the latest developments in the field. This multidisciplinary field requires engagement between scientists, engineers, clinicians and industry for addressing the challenges for a commercial, reliable, real-time-monitoring wearable insulin biosensor.

A method for evaluating the risks of glucose dysregulation in daily life by continuous measurement of glucose excursions under reduced glycemic load: a pilot study

“…Thus, the progression of metabolic dysfunction can be evaluated by monitoring both insulin and glucose, which is why simultaneous insulin-glucose measurement is of great importance and provides greater benefits not only for DM patients but also those in the preclinical stages of DM (Meigs et al, 2020). Future studies should address this issue further, and this will be aided by the ongoing development of wearable insulin monitoring devices (Sabu et al, 2019;Liu et al, 2022;Psoma and Kanthou, 2023).…”