Diabetes Talking

Question:

=        Non-Invasive Meter: = =                "A non-invasive method of determining blood glucose =        from a patient’s eye has been patented by Edward W. Stark. This, in and of istelf means absolutely NOTHING to a diabetic.  Y’see, there are a number of issues that you’ve overlooked:

[snip] Sorry if the above seems harsh, but one of the more damaging myths of the 20th century is that if something’s patented, that means it does what it’s claimed to and that it’s actually useful.

I have had significant personal experience with patents in my work.  The truth of the matter is that most of the patents that I have seen are on devices that do not work, can not work in principle, and were patented with no intention of ever actually trying to fabricate them.  Patents are a legal device that many research labs use to protect their "research investment" from encroachment by others.  Since one can not patent an idea alone, it is not uncommon for people to patent fictitious devices in order to cover a technology which they believe will later result in useful, functioning inventions after further development. I have no knowledge as to the status of the non-invasive meter mentioned in the prior posting, or as to whether what I just wrote is the case for this patent in particular. — Steve Kirchoefer Naval Research Laboratory Washington, DC  20375-5347

Response:

=        Non-Invasive Meter: = =                "A non-invasive method of determining blood glucose =        from a patient’s eye has been patented by Edward W. Stark. This, in and of istelf means absolutely NOTHING to a diabetic.  Y’see, there are a number of issues that you’ve overlooked:         1)  The fact that a patent has been granted means only that the patent             examinerr saw nothing totally outrageous about the patent             application (it’s been more than 100 years since the patent office             required, in general, that one demonstration that one’s patent             actually WORKS before granting a patent)         2)  Even if the invention actually meets the claims of the patent, that             doesn’t mean that it does anything useful for a diabetic.  Hey,             I’ve got an invention that measures blood glucose level:  It’s             accurate to within an order of magnitude, more than 99.9% of the             time, in fact:  It’s a device that always gives  an answer of 100             mg/dL, no matter what your actual blood sugar might be! Sorry if the above seems harsh, but one of the more damaging myths of the 20th century is that if something’s patented, that means it does what it’s claimed to and that it’s actually useful. I  try  very  hard  to say exactly what I mean.  I’d appreciate it if you’d bear that in mind and not try to "interpret"  my  posts  to  fit  your  own preconceived notions if I’m posting in a serious thread.  Remember:  If you throw a strawman into a heated debate, flames are likely to be the result.

Response:

   i just got back froom the american association of diabetic educators    annual meeting in san antonio – at one of the manufacturer’s booth    displays was a company making a non-invasive moniter called a diasense, a    company in pennsylvania – they had one brochure with very little    information on this product – they say it is in final stage of fda    approval – you lay your forearm on it and it reads blood sugar – each    machine will have a computer chip designed just for your sugar patterns –    i hope this thing is going to be real, i asked the rep how much, he said    about $7500.00, but let us remember what the first invasive meters were    like. if you would like more info i can get their address for you, send me    a message back here. I got literature from them last spring. It’s the size of small computer terminal, it can be calibrated for only *one* diabetic, and the calibration procedure takes 4 hours at their lab (although I’m certain they’ll add other calibration centers ASAP). It is not an easily portable device or one that can be used on a hospital floor for numerous diabetics, which extremely limits its usefulness for clinical treatment. It is nonetheless encouraging, and I’m looking forward to their shrinking the system or making it more broadly useful.  Perhaps the calibration could be a programmable number for different diabetics, for example, measured annually and re-settable by the user to share the unit.                                 Nico Garcia

Response:

writes: i just got back froom the american association of diabetic educators annual meeting in san antonio – at one of the manufacturer’s booth displays was a company making a non-invasive moniter called a diasense, a company in pennsylvania – they had one brochure with very little information on this product – they say it is in final stage of fda approval – you lay your forearm on it and it reads blood sugar – each machine will have a computer chip designed just for your sugar patterns – i hope this thing is going to be real, i asked the rep how much, he said about $7500.00, but let us remember what the first invasive meters were like. if you would like more info i can get their address for you, send me a message back here.

Response:

        Non-Invasive Meter:                 "A non-invasive method of determining blood glucose         from a patient’s eye has been patented by Edward W. Stark.         The process involves illuminating the patient’s eye with         near-infrared radiation which passes through the cornea         and the aqueous humor, and is reflected in the iris or         lens surface. The light then passes out through the aqueous         humor and cornea. The reflected radiation is collected and         detected by a near-infrared sensor which measures the re-         flected energy in one or more wavelength bands. Determina-         tions of blood glucose are obtained by suitable calibration         relating the measured spectral absorption of the aqueous         humor to the measured glucose level. The system includes         a computer for processing the spectral data and a display         for readout of the result.  Patent #: EP 0589191 A1."         Watch" section, p.18.         There are some other interesting patents included in this         section (such as Artificial Pancreas, Implantable Capsule,         New Invention Lowers Blood Sugar and Appetite All in One,         and many more…  If anyone doesn’t have this issue,         E-mail me and I’ll type out the other patent information. —