Meet the inventor: Professor Adrian Porch from Cardiff University

Ian Bolland caught up with the inventor of the GlucoRx Wearable BioXensor device at Arab Health 2023, where Professor Adrian Porch from Cardiff University told us more about the device’s journey.

Towards the end of last year, GlucoRx announced the launch of what it said was the world’s first non-invasive wearable biosensor and showcased the device at MEDICA in Dusseldorf prior to Arab Health in January. 

“There have been a number of attempts at trying to create a non-invasive blood glucose sensor using what are effectively electromagnetic wave technologies, so we’re not the first,” Professor Porch said.

“We use radio waves from a circuit that sits within a compact unit on the skin, forming our biosensor.

“Rather than using a wired-type sensor with skin electrodes, or other continuous glucose monitors which are chemical in origin and require access some sort of bodily fluid, we decided to use radio-frequency electromagnetic waves. We aim for our sensor to be the world’s first, truly non-invasive glucose monitor that comes to market."

Although Professor Porch had been working on radio wave sensors for over 25 years, the ‘lightbulb’ moment behind the device’s development came in 2008 when he was introduced to the problem by another colleague Dr Jan Beutler, who is a co-inventor on the key underlying patent. The duo then worked together for several years to develop the technology, supported by innovation funds from Cardiff University, allowing them to run a clinical study to provide baseline data for a funding application to the Wellcome Trust. Another key contributor to the device’s development has been Professor Steve Luzio, of the Diabetes Research Unit at Swansea University, who has led the clinical trials and regulatory matters.

Professor Porch was awarded a Translation Award from the Wellcome Trust in 2012 which allowed development of the biosensor to accelerate, which is when Dr Heungjae Choi joined the team (another expert in radio frequency engineering) and his technical inputs have been crucial to the device’s success.

Professor Porch continued: “We first developed a wired device in the sense that the device itself was non-invasive in that it sat on the skin, but the actual electronic circuitry was in a large box that sat on the desk, basically.

“The Wellcome funding allowed us to miniaturise the electronics so that they became wearable in a small, battery-operated unit that was stuck on the upper arm, with information from the sensor transmitted using Bluetooth to a laptop. We ran further MHRA-approved clinical studies under the direction of Prof Luzio to produce robust datasets showing the clear promise of our technology for non-invasive blood glucose monitoring. This was what attracted the interest of GlucoRx.”

Over the last four years, the team at Cardiff University (with the addition of a further key researcher Dr Sam Hefford) has been able to work with GlucoRx on the development of the device, and there are hopes there will be a commercial product released later this year.

With radio frequency at the heart of the technology used to monitor glucose in this device, Professor Porch elaborated on its uses.

“Radio frequencies penetrate deep into the body, but they are also safe in that they are non-ionising and we operate at power levels which are way below the levels you get with mobile phones. There’s absolutely no safety issue and this has been a top priority for us. What sets our sensor apart from other reports of non-invasive electromagnetic sensors is the multi-sensor, multi-spectral approach that we adopt with the BioXensor developed with GlucoRx, with the radio frequency signal being the primary source of information.”

So once this has been brought to market, what next? Professor Porch says he isn’t looking too far into the future.

“We just want to get something out there to improve the lives of people with diabetes. A sensor that is truly non-invasive, painless and takes the stigma away of diabetes monitoring.

“Current continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) technology is amazing. Even during the time I’ve been working in this area, I’ve seen how minimally invasive CGMs have undergone an enormous step change in terms of their functionality and capability. However, they’re still invasive in the sense they need some access to some bodily fluid.”

Professor Adrian Porch will be speaking on Day 2 of Med-Tech Innovation Expo on the Med-Tech Innovation Conference Stage. Register for FREE at www.med-techexpo.com. Med-Tech Innovation Expo takes place on 7-8 June at the NEC, Birmingham.