"Diabetes is the most common endocrine metabolic disorder that is currently afflicting nearly half a billion people worldwide according to IDF diabetes atlas 2019. It is associated with elevated blood glucose levels and causes complications such as heart diseases, retina degeneration, kidney failure among others. Diabetes patients must therefore regularly monitor blood glucose to maintain glycemic balance as a regimen or prophylactic measure. Up to now, the glucose meters commonly used for this purpose involve painful finger pricking about 4-5 times a day to obtain blood samples. Since diabetes is a lifelong health compilation, the problems caused by continuous finger pricking cannot be overemphasized. The general implication is that it leads to patient non-compliance and hence poor diabetes management. The other alternative to this painful point-sample self-monitoring is the continuous glucose monitoring using implantable devices. However, the present generations of these devices require routine replacement and calibration by the finger pricking method. Additionally, they are expensive and therefore tightly regulated by insurance companies. A viable option for general public interest is non-invasive blood glucose self-monitoring which has remained a worldwide goal despite over 4 decades of innovation in this field. In the GlucoTear project, the objective is to develop fluorescence-based glucose sensor that is integrated to a Smartphone and utilizing fluorescent carbon particles capable of detecting glucose concentration in tear samples. This would avoid finger-pricking method and instead use tear samples that are obtained non-invasively. Overall objectives include: (i) to generate non-toxic fluorescent carbon nanoparticles using laser-based technologies, which are innovative ""green""approaches in the field of nanomaterial synthesis, (ii) to develop a non-invasive, reliable and portable tear glucose sensor based on the fluorescence signals to be detected by a smartphone camera, (iii) to correlate the results of the fluorescence-based tear glucose testing with that of the clinically approved blood glucose sensor in pursuit of a homecare/POC device. The project achieved most of its objectives and milestones for the period, with relatively minor deviations. Further clinical study for the validation of the developed tear glucose sensor is required."
