Diabetes study

A sensor placed under the skin is to be used to monitor the glucose levels of diabetes patients in a study by Southampton clinicians.

Diabetes experts based at Southampton General Hospital will fit the tiny devices to participants' stomachs and use them in conjunction with watch-like armbands, which will check a patient's physical activity.

The trial will be the first of its kind in the UK, studying how much of an impact exercise has on blood glucose levels while also taking diet and insulin intake into account.

Led by Prof Christopher Byrne and Dr Andrew Chipperfield from Southampton University School of Medicine, it is hoped the study, funded by Diabetes UK, will shed new light on type 1 diabetes.

Thirty volunteers aged between 18 and 75 will be supplied with a glucose sensor and armband.

The glucose sensor consists of a tiny electrode, which is inserted under the skin and can take nearly 300 readings a day. This connects to a transmitter that is attached to the skin with an adhesive patch.