AGGIELI lay, September 18,21 Thk Battalion FEVER' rrdan Ladd premise straight ft “Cabin Fever” al story that manage ? vein of shock fit itself on its standj: t fight for their live ing force. Her is all too real lead of the “boojev iften haunt the k buster and the® m llesh-eating bade us disease is ck and destroy tissue nove it. The disease consists of spread]!:. >dy group of fun-seekini take a vacation hos; he woods. Obvious! 1 if the “Evil Deae a creepy little cab; :st. ely unknown actors, y Meets World" co ever” has its share of ly hindered by sub ly, the audience of eccentric country ly racist old man aid e kid. These charae- >up that has as mud ■nts. nto their cabin, tbei ick man with amts heir car, and we es of the bactera ds must find a wav spreading contagioc 1. effects, the vint reat to the student! is, but their reactioi; of its polentia/dM to self-preservation, lied with plot holes bulance through, the does not leave ine these discrepaii-| ver, and by that time over by the outra- :n to appreciate. 'obert Saucedo Scil Tech Page 5A • Thursday, September 18, 2003 ‘Smart tattoo’ makes life easier Diabetics can measure glucose without pricking finger By Kyle Ross THE BATTALION Researchers at Texas A&M are devel- t originality: a grot: 0 pj n g technology that will give diabetics a new way to monitor their glucose levels. A “smart tattoo” that changes color intensity depending on glucose levels is being developed by Gerard Cote, associate pro fessor for the Department of Biomedical Engineering at A&M. The National Institute of Health states that more than 100 million people world wide are afflicted w ith diabetes, 17 million of whom are from the United States. About 19 percent of all deaths in the United States are diabetes-related, making it the sixth leading cause of death among people aged 25 years or older. Cote said he hopes his technology will help people manage their glucose levels, effectively preventing the progression of diabetic complications such as eye. kidney, heart and nerve disease. “It is actually fluorescent particles that we hope to implant underneath the skin," Cote said. The particles are polyethylene glycol beads that have a fluorescent coating. Glucose displaces the fluorescent mole cules, therefore when the glucose level is low, the fluorescence is high. It is recommended that glucose levels be checked six or more times a day. Currently, diabetics have to test their blood sugar level using finger-prick instru ments. Because of the pain and inconven ience of testing, many diabetics fall short of correctly monitoring their glucose lev els. The “smart tattoo” would eliminate the need for such invasive devices. Nicole Parish, a 25-year-old Bryan High School teacher and 20-year diabetic, says she greatly dislikes the current glu cose monitoring methods. “I hate, 1 hate, 1 hate checking my blood sugar. I hate pricking my finger all day long. For me it's the hardest thing to deal with having this disease,” Parish said. But the days of finger-pricking may soon be coming to an end. Once the fluo rescent beads are implanted, according to Cote, the change in glucose levels would be detected noninvasively by an external device that may be as small as a watch. A sensor examines the light emitted from the tattoo. The higher the intensity of the light, the higher the glucose level. Cote said he feels that the varying intensi ty of the displaced fluorescence will be just as accurate as current monitoring devices. The idea. Cote said, is that the particles, along with the external device after cali bration, would replace the finger-sticking instrument for the day-to-day readings. One of the features of this technology that allows it to work is its fundamental difference from common ink tattoos. “A normal tattoo is made of ink parti cles that get taken up by the cells, and our particles are intended to be in the intersti tial space, not in the cells,” Cote said. The ink in standard tattoos is small enough to be absorbed into the cells of the skin, but the fluorescent particles are much bigger. This allows the particles to occupy the interstitial fluid surrounding the cells, which is important because the glucose levels in the interstitial fluid are directly related to the levels in the blood. Cote says the particles would last about one year before needing to be replaced and would need to be injected in a part of the body where continuous exposure to the sun could be avoided. Cote acquired his idea for this technol ogy when he was attending a conference where a doctor, who removes tattoos with lasers, joked that “it would be nice to have a tattoo that actually did something.” “I was working in the glucose monitor ing area and so 1 thought why not a glu cose monitor” Cote said. “We have since got funding from NSF-REU Interdisciplinary Chemistry Research Program, Texas ARP (Advanced Research Program), and most recently NASA to fur ther the idea.” In the end, it is up to the individual to decide what glucose monitoring method he or she prefers. But as Parish said, com pared to endless finger-pricking, “getting a little tattoo would be a small price to pay.” ORDER OF OMEGA “Qrtek No±LohaI Honor Society” ^ Applications are DUE TOMORROW by 5:00 p.m. in the Office of Greek Life (Sbisa East Wing)! BE SURE TO SIGN UP FOR AN INTERVIEW! Josh Darwin • THE BATTALION jr - ^ u BUFFET RESTAURANT FRESH SEAFOOD BUFFET • Fresh Oysters • Mussels • King Crab Legs • Sushi • Salmon • Roast Duck Mongolian BBQ available all day long! YOUR CHOICE OF FRESH FOOD • MADE WHILE YOU WATCH! LUNCH BUFFET DINNER BUFFET $C 55 $7 75 Mon.-Sat. 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