Non-invasive glucose monitoring: assessment of technologies and devices according to quantitative criteria.

Aim of this review was to describe the main technologies for non-invasive glucose monitoring and the corresponding most relevant devices. The review tries to overcome the limitations of previous reviews on this topic, such as the lack of objective criteria for inclusion or exclusion of technologies or devices, and the poor organization of the information, which often does not allow easy comparison between technologies and devices. In this review, the information is concise and organized into specific categories, and hence it becomes easy to compare advantages and disadvantages of the different technologies and devices. For technologies, the categories of information considered are the technology name, the underlying physical principle, the technology limitations and the measurement sites on the human body. For devices, the categories of information are the device name, its approval condition (FDA Approval and/or CE Mark), the technology on which it is based, a device general description, the tests performed on the device, the corresponding results, safety information, aspects affecting usability, current status of the device and the manufacturer, an Internet reference for the device. A total of 14 technologies and 16 devices are included. Conclusions of the review were that, despite some interesting and promising technologies and devices, a satisfactory solution to the non-invasive glucose monitoring problem still requires further efforts.