The FDA has approved the GlucoWatch G2 Biographer (Cygnus Inc, Redwood City, Calif), a glucose monitoring device, for the detection and assessment of episodes of hyperglycemia and hypoglycemia in children and adolescents aged 7 to 17 years old. The device had been previously approved for the same use in adults.
The Biographer, which is worn like a wristwatch, obtains a glucose sample by periodically applying a very low level of electrical current to the skin. The sample is painlessly extracted into hydrogel disks that contain glucose oxidase, and the resulting hydrogen peroxide reacts on a platinum biosensor to produce an electric signal that is translated into an equivalent blood glucose level.