Contactless glucose monitoring in organ-on-a-chip systems using NIR/MIR spectroscopy

Abstract

The PhotonMed consortium aims to advance photonics technologies for diagnostics, medical devices, and wearable systems. CSEM is one of 39 partner organizations contributing to research activities that push beyond the current state of the art and support the commercialization of innovative photonic technologies. The application relevance and quality of the consortium’s work will be demonstrated through 16 pilot cases led by end user companies, which will later exploit the project outcomes in their own R&D efforts toward product launches.

In this work, we present one of the PhotonMed pilot cases, which focuses on advancing glucose monitoring in organ on a chip (OoC) platforms through the development of a contactless, real time sensing system based on near infrared (NIR) and mid infrared (MIR) spectroscopy. This approach addresses major limitations of current OoC glucose monitoring techniques, which depend on invasive sampling methods that are unsuitable for automated continuous monitoring and introduce contamination risks. The primary objective is to develop a compact, competitive NIR/MIR reader capable of continuous glucose measurement in OoC devices within the low concentration range below 10 mM, relevant for cell culture conditions. The system is intended for use in biological laboratories, bioproduction environments, pharmaceutical companies, biotech facilities, and advanced research settings, enabling non invasive, continuous monitoring in low volume cell culture media.

Our work presents a proof of concept validation of the sensing approach, demonstrating the ability to measure optical absorbance signals with 50 ppm precision and to monitor glucose concentrations with an accuracy of 1 mM. A real time data processing algorithm ensures individual measurement updates within a few seconds. The presence of other bio analytes in cell culture media is expected to influence measurement reliability due to partial spectral overlap; this aspect is currently under investigation and will be addressed in the presentation. Both NIR and MIR spectroscopy modules are being integrated into a single compact and modular device. In the final phase of the project, the system will be validated using a liver–pancreas assay to monitor glucose concentration directly within the cell culture compartment of the OoC platform.