CHAPTER 3

METHODOLOGY

This chapter focusses on the methodology to develop the device, discussing on

steps, theories and components involved in each part of the system. The project is
divided into two parts; hardware and software. The hardware part includes the circuit
design for the near infrared sensor and the LCD keypad shield. While, the software
part consists of the operational flow of the microcontroller. The glucose calibration
experimental procedures are also discussed in this chapter.

3.1 Project Overview

Figure 3.1 illustrates the block diagram of the proposed portable non-invasive
glucose monitoring system. The system starts operating once the transmitter
(in Figure 3.2) transmits an infrared signal which is exposed to the glucose solution or
blood sample. The glucose molecule in the glucose solution or blood sample reflects
the infrared signal to the receiver (photodiode). The photodiode (in Figure 3.3)
receives the infrared signal which is converted to an equivalent voltage value. The
Arduino Uno microcontroller, uses these voltage value as a parameter to calculate the
glucose concentration and determine the insulin dose needed corresponding to the
users body mass index (BMI). Finally, the measured glucose concentration and insulin
dose will displayed on the LCD screen.

Figure 3.1: Block diagram of the portable non-invasive blood glucose monitoring
device
3.2 Hardware Design

The main hardware components in the system consists of five (5) parts which
includes a transmitter (LED1550E), a photodiode (FGA10), an operational amplifier
(OP491), microcontroller (Arduino Uno), and a liquid crystal display (LCD) keypad
shield.

3.2.1 Near Infrared (NIR) Detection Circuit

The NIR detection circuit consists of a transmitter circuit and a receiver circuit
(as shown in Figure 3.4a and Figure 3.4b respectively), with both transmitter and
receiver positioned side by side and points to a reflective surface. both transmitter and
receiver operates at 5V and is powered by the Arduino microcontroller[27]. The
transmitter (LED1550E), as shown in Figure 3.2 is an ultra-bright NIR LED which
emits infrared light with a spectral output between 1400 nm-1700 nm centred at 1550
nm. Referring to the data sheet in Appendix C, it is composed of heterostructures which
is grown on Indium Gallium Arsenide Phosphide (InGaAsP) substrate and is
encapsulated in a 5 mm (in diameter) hemispherical clear epoxy casing. The maximum
reversed voltage or the maximum output voltage of the NIR is 5V[27].
 Figure 3.2: Transmitter (LED1550E)

Figure 3.3: Photodiode (FGA10)

The receiver circuit (as shown in Figure 3.4b) consists of a photodiode, a noise
filter and an operational amplifier. A low pass filter is connected to the voltage source
to reduce the noise frequency from the source. The FGA10 photodiode is suitable to
be used with the transmitter as it has a wavelength sensitivity which is within 800 nm-
1800 nm[28]. The photodiode is used to measure continuous wave fibre light source
and converts the optical power received from the transmitter to an electrical current
value. In this project, the electrical current is converted into voltage by placing a load
resistor (RL) at the anode as shown in Figure 3.4b.
 The value of the output voltage depends on the intensity of the infrared signal
it receives, which is between 0 V to 5 V. Since the output voltages from the photodiode
are usually less than 1 V, an operational amplifier is used to amplify the output signal.
Figure 3.4 (b) shows the complete schematic diagram of the detection circuit.

(a)

(b)
Figure 3.4: Schematic diagram of the NIR detection circuit. (a) Transmitter circuit.
(b) Receiver (photodiode) circuit.
3.2.2 Implementation of LCD Keypad Shield

The LCD keypad shield, as in Figure 3.5 is developed to be used with any
compatible Arduino boards. It consists of six (6) momentary push buttons and a 2x16
LCD screen. It does not require any soldering, only to be plugged to the main Arduino
board. Pin 4 to pin 9 of the main Arduino board is used to control the LCD display,
while pin 8 and pin 9 are used for Register Select (RS) and Enable pin. The LCD
keypad shield is used to key in the height and weight of the users and also to display
the measured glucose concentration and calculated insulin dose needed. Figure 3.6 (a)
and (b) show the schematic diagrams of the push buttons and the LCD screen.

(a
)

Figure 3.5: LCD Keypad shield

 (b)

(b)
Figure 3.6: Schematic diagram of the (a) push buttons (b) LCD screen
3.3 Software Development

The main focus of the software development is the microcontroller. The

Arduino Uno is a microcontroller board based on Atmega328 and has 14 digital input
and output pins. It can be powered by a (5 V-12 V) battery or by simply connecting
it to a computer with a universal serial bus (USB). The Arduino Uno is used as the
controller for the device as it is an open source which is easy to code and upload to the
input/output (I/O) board. The open source Arduino code is known as integrated
development environment (IDE) and its interface is shown in Figure 3.7.

Figure 3.7: IDE software interface and serial monitor (right)

 The microcontroller supplies voltages to bias both transmitter and photodiode.
The output of the photodiode and amplifier are connected to the analogue pin of the
microcontroller. The block diagram of the Arduino and the detection circuit is show in
Figure 3.8. Meanwhile, Figure 3.9 displays the connection of the LCD keypad shield
and Arduino.

Figure 3.8: Block diagram of Arduino and detection circuit

Figure 3.9: The connection of LCD keypad shield and Arduino

 In this project, the Arduino Uno microcontroller is used to calculate the
concentration of glucose as well as the required insulin dose, corresponding to the body
mass index (BMI) of the users. The output voltage obtained from the photodiode is
used as a parameter to determine the glucose concentration by using a mathematical
equation acquired from the glucose calibration experiments. Figure
3.10 illustrates the flowchart of the glucose and insulin calculation. The BMI values
are divided into three groups; underweight (BMI<25), normal (25BMI30), and
overweight (BMI>30). The data are based on subcutaneous insulin order set of Banner
Good Samaritan Medical Centre, Phoenix[29].

Firstly, the user is required to enter their height and weight. The users BMI
will be calculated to determine whether the user is in the underweight, normal or
overweight category. The sensor will then start to measure the glucose concentration
of the glucose solution sample. If the measured glucose concentration is less than
70mg/dL, no insulin is needed for the user. However, if the measured glucose
concentration is more than 70 mg/dL, a corresponding insulin dose is needed, (based
on the tables for each BMI category in the flow chart). Both values of measured.
glucose concentration as well as the required insulin dose will be displayed on the LCD
screen.

Start

Enter Height & weight

Calculate Body Mass Index

BMI=
 No No
BMI<25 25BMI<30 BMI30

Yes Yes Yes

Get glucose Get glucose Get glucose
level level level

Glucose No Glucose No
Glucose No <70 <70
<70

Yes Yes
Yes
No insulin No insulin
No insulin

Glucose Insulin Glucose Insulin Glucose Insulin

Level dose Level dose Level dose
(mg/dL) (Units) (mg/dL) (Units) (mg/dL) (Units)
70-150 0.4 70-150 0.5 70-150 0.6
151-175 1.4 151-175 2.5 151-175 3.6
176-200 2.4 176-200 4.4 176-200 6.6
201-225 3.4 201-225 6.6 201-225 7.6
226-250 5.5 226-250 8.5 226-250 9.6
251-275 7.5 251-275 10.5 251-275 11.6
276-300 9.4 276-300 12.5 276-300 14.6
>300 12.4 >300 14.5 >300 18.6

Figure 3.10: Flowchart of the microcontroller

3.4 Experiment Procedure

Two (2) sets of experiments were conducted to determine the relationship

between glucose concentration and the sensors output voltage. Several glucose
solutions of different concentrations ranging from (10mg/dL-320mg/dL) were prepared
by dissolving glucose (dextrose monohydrate) in 1 dL of distilled water, as shown in
Equation 3.1 and Equation 3.2. The solutions were prepared in tinted amber reagent
bottles as shown in Figure 3.11 to avoid them from being affected by the light.

1dL = 100ml (Equation 3.1)

100 mg/dL = 100mg of glucose+100ml of distilled water (Equation 3.2)

30 ml of each glucose solution were transferred into a cuvette and positioned

between the transmitter and receiver, as shown in Figure 3.12. The output voltages for
different glucose concentrations were recorded to determine the relationship between
glucose concentration and the sensors output voltage. In addition, a reliability test was
carried out by comparing the glucose concentration measurements from four subjects
using invasive finger-prick techniques (Accu-Check) and the proposed portable non-
invasive device.