In the fight against diseases and infections our advance in technology has always been our greatest weapon. New and pioneering methods of understanding different conditions that affect wellness can sometimes seem more like science fiction, but rest assured that this is nothing but science fact. A brand new method in the fight against diabetes uses tiny bubbles known as “microbubbles” inside your body.
In practice the concept works by injecting these microbubbles into a patient and then using ultrasound waves to pop them when they float into the right position. This might not seem like an immediately obvious way to battle diabetes, but if you load the microbubbles with genes designed to help the pancreas work, they could be used to allow a diabetic to start producing their own insulin again.
The technology actually originates from the battlefield. Sound waves can be used to bounce off the hull of submarines to establish their position. In the same way, these waves can be bounced off the organs of the body to help us understand whether they are functioning correctly, and how diseases might be affecting them.
Interestingly the microbubbles are especially useful for giving doctors a clear view of hard-to-see organs such as the heart. Because the heart is encased behind the ribcage it can mean that getting a full picture of exactly how it is can be very difficult. The microbubble technique should actually make the process much easier which can only improve patient care and lead to better wellbeing for thousands of people.
Studies on rats have shown very promising results, and while fundamentally the concept should be the same with humans, we are still some years from being sure that it would work correctly. For such a debilitating disease like diabetes any steps forward using modern technology can only be a good thing.
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