Researchers in London have found that violet-blue LED lights can work with a particular type of Type 2 diabetes medication to help more effectively release insulin. It was discovered that the new medication, “when exposed to violet-blue light, changes shape to release a proper amount of insulin from pancreatic cells.”
Many of the medications used to treat diabetes release too much medication and this can lead to unsafe drops or spikes in sugar levels. The new medication, however, will remain inactive until the LED is shined on it. What does this mean? That theoretically, the patient can “turn the medication on” by shining the LED on their skin. The medication would “turn off” once the light is removed.
Microscope Technology
This could potentially allow a patient to have better control over his or her blood sugar levels and could enhance patient health by reducing complications from drug activity when it’s not needed.
Also being developed is a technology that gives physicians the ability to detect vision issues in diabetics. The sooner it’s detected, the more effectively vision loss can be treated.
The new microscope technology gives doctors the ability to capture a clearer, larger and sharper image of the tiny capillaries inside the eye. These are then projected to a computer screen that gives the doctor a larger field of vision to observe the way the blood cells are circulating through the vessels in the eye.
Patients suffering diabetes typically have thicker blood vessel walls in their eyes than to non-diabetics. Patients in the early stages of diabetes, it was found, had capillaries that were longer and corkscrew-shaped.
Observations in the changes of the eyes of diabetics were not easily discovered prior to the use of these technologies because it hadn’t been possible to capture a close enough view of the retina with other technologies.
UKA Optics designs and manufactures optical lenses for industrial, medical, high tech and electronic applications.