Diabetes mellitus is a non-communicable disease caused by a metabolic disorder characterized by high blood sugar levels. According to the International Diabetes Federation (IDF) in 2021, Indonesia will be the country with the 2nd highest death rate from diabetes mellitus in the world. Indonesia also ranks 7th with a population of 10.7 million people suffering from diabetes.
Departing from this problem, three Brawijaya University students consisting of Fajrul Fallaah Hidayatulloh (FT), Felix Wijaya (FT), and Diah Rana Hafizhah (FK) under the guidance of Ir. Nurussa’adah, M.T. along with Dr. Rulli Rosandi, Sp.PD-KEMD created a tool to help control type 1 diabetes mellitus and type 2 diabetes mellitus in Indonesia.
The GlukoSipp innovation (non-invasive glucometer equipped with an insulin and glucagon pump) is funded by the Ministry of Education and Culture and Brawijaya University through the 2023 Student Creativity Program in the field of Creative Initiatives.
This innovation has also received an IPR (Intellectual Property Rights) certificate issued by DJKI (Directorate General of Intellectual Property).
“Blood sugar checking devices that are widely available on the market today require many components such as lancets and lancet devices, blood sugar strips and glucometers. “The checks carried out also make patients or users uncomfortable because they have to prick their fingertip using a lancet to see their blood sugar levels,” said Diah.
According to Diah, for diabetes which is chronic and cannot be cured, continuous control and monitoring of blood sugar levels is very important to avoid possible complications and worsening that could occur.
The team of Creative Initiatives of the National Student Scientific Week (PKM KC), a collaboration from the Department of Electrical Engineering and the Medical Study Program, created the GlukoSipp innovation, a non-invasive glucometer in the form of a bracelet using a PPG sensor using spectroscopic methods.
“This GlukoSipp glucometer has a fairly easy usage procedure, just by wearing it as a bracelet and logging in to the GlukoSipp application, users can monitor their blood sugar levels anytime and anywhere,” said Falah as the leader of the PKM KC GlukoSipp team.
Not only creating a non-invasive glucometer, the three students also created an automatic insulin and glucagon hormone pump to facilitate treatment for type 1 diabetes mellitus patients.
“Even though the number of people suffering from type 1 diabetes mellitus is not as many as type 2 diabetes mellitus, it is important to know that according to the update from the IDF in Indonesia, in 2022 there will be 41.8 thousand people with type 1 diabetes mellitus. “This figure is not a small number,” said Felix.
According to him, the innovation of insulin and glucagon hormone pumps can help the government to tackle the diabetes emergency that is currently in Indonesia.
There are currently no insulin pumps in Indonesia. Meanwhile, insulin pumps abroad have prices in the range of hundreds of millions of rupiah.
In its work, the GlukoSipp glucometer system uses spectroscopy and photoplethysmography methods to calculate blood glucose levels according to the Beer-Lambert law which calculates the attenuation of light based on the material through which the light passes.
The implementation uses a groove optical sensor with a certain wavelength which infrared rays can penetrate the skin and be captured again by a photodiode.
The ratio of light intensity captured by the photodiode is then calculated using a mathematical formula and then calibrated to become the glucose value.
Apart from the glucometer, there is also an automatic pump system which will inject insulin automatically if the blood sugar level of a diabetic sufferer is above the normal limit (hyperglycemia; blood sugar level >180 mg/dL), likewise glucagon will be injected into diabetic sufferers who tend to experience severe hypoglycemia (blood sugar levels below normal; blood sugar levels <70 mg/dL).
This GlukoSipp tool is also equipped with an application that can be downloaded on the user’s smartphone which allows the user to monitor blood sugar levels in real time and history of blood sugar levels displayed in graphical form. There are also features related to diet and exercise suggestions that are suitable for diabetes sufferers to implement or carry out.
“Diabetes sufferers can also use the GlukoSipp application to consult with a professional doctor regarding the condition they are currently experiencing,” he said.
The PKM KC GlukoSipp team is currently testing the non-invasive GlukoSipp glucometer which compares the measurement results with the usual invasive glucometer. circulating in society.
“This tool has the potential to be bought and sold, therefore for future development GlukoSipp will be reduced in terms of dimensions, namely by changing it with an IC so that it is more wearable for use in daily activities, as well as adding Artificial Intelligence features so that this technology is even more sophisticated,” said Ir. Nurussa’adah, M.T. as the main supervisor of the GlukoSipp PKM KC team.
It is hoped that the presence of GlukoSipp will facilitate treatment for diabetes sufferers in Indonesia and be a concrete form of contribution from Brawijaya University students to the current diabetes emergency management in Indonesia. (*/OKY/UB PR/ Trans. Iir).
