WASHINGTON (AP) -- The government has approved a battery-operated laser that millions of diabetics can use at home to test their blood sugar without the pain of pricking their fingers several times each day.
Cell Robotics Inc.'s laser, called Lasette, uses a powerful beam of light to vaporize a tiny hole in the fingers of children and adult diabetics, so they can perform the blood tests vital to keep their diabetes in check.The Food and Drug Administration approved Lasette on Monday for doctors to prescribe to diabetics in place of the tiny razors, called lancets, they now use to prick their fingers four to 12 times a day.
"I expect this will be a big quality-of-life deal for many diabetics," said Dr. Susan Alpert, FDA's chief of medical device evaluation. "Patients report that it is more comfortable for them, and they're thrilled."
Diabetics' bodies cannot regulate glucose, or blood sugar. Millions stay alive by controlling their glucose with insulin shots, which they time by pricking their fingers to check their blood sugar. The repeated finger-pricks are painful, particularly on children's tiny fingers.
But an estimated 70 percent of diabetics fail to test themselves daily. That neglect is dangerous -- because the tighter control diabetics maintain on their blood sugar, the less likely they are to suffer blindness, heart disease and other complications of the disease.
Diabetics have been hoping for noninvasive or minimally invasive ways to test their glucose levels, but that technology is at least several years away. The laser, however, is a step toward more pain-free testing.
"The laser has the capacity to (test) without causing any of the pain. Therefore, people are more apt to use it, which would be incredibly important," said American Diabetes Association President Dr. Gerald Bernstein.
But diabetes experts warned the laser may prove too expensive for many patients. And even though it's just the size of a VCR tape, it's still too big for many people to conveniently carry around all day.
"If it's atrociously expensive, it will not be accessible," warned Dr. Bob Goldstein of the Juvenile Diabetes Foundation.
The battery-powered laser sits on a table. Patients stick a finger into a slot and push a button. The laser light then vaporizes a tiny patch of skin, creating a tiny hole the same size that lancets normally create but without the bruising that a lancet causes, said Cell Robotics Vice President Travis Lee.