FoviOptics
Retinal Glucose Analyzer
Non-Invasive Glucose Monitoring

One of the holy grails of diabetes management, non-invasive testing will greatly improve the lives of people with diabetes. By removing one of the largest barriers to testing (the painful stick of a needle), this device encourages more frequent testing and the potential for better short- and long-term health. Since there are no disposable testing supplies needed, such as test strips or lancets, it is a cost-effective solution as well.

The design challenge of this project was to take a research-and-development device roughly the size of a filing cabinet and shrink it down to a wearable product that could be carried in a purse or pocket. The biggest engineering challenge was keeping the device steady on the head (to within +/- 0.005").

To that end, tens of mechanical breadboards were made and evaluated to determine the most stable and repeatably placeable designs. Two design directions were pursued simultaneously: the smallest functional engineering prototype and the future aesthetic direction for market testing. 

A totally new product in the glucose market, this product was designed and developed from the ground up. The key design elements of the product include:

• Highly stable head-mounted platform
• Repeatedly adjustable to fit 95% of heads
• Side cable management which doesn't disturb testing
• Ultra-lightweight
• Diopter lens retainer
• Allowance for facial features
• Precision slides in 3-axes to align optics path to eye
• Light- and distraction-blocking for more accurate testing

A sampling of some of the elements we designed or assisted with:

• Precision X, Y, and Z optics stages
• Optics platform and shroud
• Temple adjustment and lock
• Cable management features
• Spring-loaded ear hooks
• Diopter lens slot and retainer
• Complete looks-like, works-like, feels-like marketing prototype
   

More information can be found at  www.fovioptics.com.

Note: This work was done by Sascha Retailleau while working at Speck Design.