NIJMEGEN, Netherlands—NovioSense BV, based here, recently announced the issuance by the European Patent Office of a patent that discloses a wireless flexible spring-like sensor for detection of glucose levels in tear fluid. This invention contributes to the non-invasive near field communications (NFC) trend sweeping the medical device industry.

The patent with publication number EP2699690B1 is for a medical device making use of a flexible wireless sensor system based on an electrochemical cell utilizing a hollow coil electrode.

“The patent claims our proprietary technology platform that allows wireless measurement of biomarker levels utilizing an electro active redox enzyme system combined with near field communications found in many smartphones” said Dr. Christopher Wilson CEO, NovioSense BV. “This first patent award is a significant value creation step for NovioSense and is currently being utilized in our tear glucose sensor,” he said.

The granting of this patent is a step forward in the commercialization of a tiny sensor that sits in the lower eyelid to continuously measure glucose levels in tears for use in the treatment of type 1 diabetes. It further protects the NovioSense technology for use of the flexible electrochemical sensor or the measurement of a wide range of small molecule biomarkers found in many biological fluids inside and outside of the body including blood, saliva and urine.

“With the introduction of contactless communications capable of powering passive sensors into mainstream smartphones, the opportunities to deliver exciting products for diabetics and glucose management will continue to grow. Today, non-invasive glucose measurement is becoming increasingly competitive. We have found ourselves competing with multinational technology and pharmaceutical companies such as Google and Novartis,” said Dr. Wilson.

“NovioSense is very active in the space of connected medical sensors and we believe we are leading the way to non-invasive micro sensors. We are actively seeking ways to exploit our technology base in new application domains,” he said.