The whirlwind array of research projects dedicated to graphene continues unabated, with the latest developments using the ‘wonder material’ as a biosensor, monitoring and even treating diabetes.
Plymouth researchers claim graphene is perfectly suited to biosensing projects, noting favourable – and even identical – conduction rates when electrical signals are transmitted at either low or high frequencies.
Should the study prove correct, then it opens up plenty of doors with regard using graphene, “many new applications”, said Dr Shakil Awan, lead author of the study.
The investigation into various frequencies has proved very important in this nascent age of graphene research as, until we know its true capabilities – which grow by the day, it seems – we won’t know just how effective a substance it can be.
The key to Awan’s work was graphene’s lack of band-gap, which means it could essentially be used for ultra-sensitive biosensors.
This seems all the more significant when placed alongside a complementary piece of research that has since come out of South Korea, where researchers looked at how wearable graphene strips can monitor type-2 diabetes and, in theory, treat it too.
Graphene as a wearable, via Hui Won Yun, Seoul National University
Theoretical success
Diabetes causes an imbalance of glucose in the body, meaning patients may need to regularly visit their doctors, use home-testing kits and inject doses of insulin, which, in a healthy person, is naturally occurring.
The patch suggested by scientists at the Centre for Nanoparticle Research monitors glucose levels in human sweat – an alternative to going down the blood route, which, in fairness, reveals glucose levels far quicker.
The patch is loaded with enzymes to help track – in relatively real time – glucose levels and, remarkably, distribute metformin when required. This is done through ‘temperature-responsive’ micro-needles dotted around the patch.
“These advances using nanomaterials and devices provide new opportunities for the treatment of chronic diseases like diabetes,” said associate professor Kim Dae-Hyeong.
It also means graphene is jumping from the physics field into microbiology somewhat seamlessly.
For those living with type-1 diabetes, there’s plenty of new therapies coming on stream, too.
Main image of nanostructure via Shutterstock
