
March 27, 2000
Research: Monitoring
Question from River Forest, Illinois, USA:
My ten year old has type 1 diabetes. Can iontophoresis be used to deliver insulin through the skin and also to test glucose levels?
Answer:
The answer is yes on both counts. So far as I know though there is no data yet on insulin iontophoresis in humans and what there is on mice seems to be very dependant both on how the skin is prepared and on having monomeric rather than hexameric insulin.
The GlucoWatch instrument, which seems to work very well, depends on reverse iontophoresis to measure subcutaneous fluid glucose. The model that may soon be approved is a little cumbersome though for a ten year old, but I believe a smaller version is being developed.
DOB