ABSTRACT
Diabetes is a metabolic disorder, which occurs either because of a lack of insulin or
because of the presence of factors that oppose the action of insulin. There is cur-
rently no cure for diabetes and the control of elevated blood glucose levels, without
causing abnormally low levels, is the major goal in treating diabetes. Reasonable
control is now relatively easily achieved with a blood glucose meter/glucose biosen-
sor. Currently, there are more than 40 commercialized devices for detecting blood
glucose levels. As a result of intense competition, companies have resorted to a
strategy where existing technology has been pragmatically optimized to meet com-
mercial objectives, such as small size and fast response time. As a consequence of
this continual development, commercial practice often differs from the theoretical
papers appearing in the literature. This chapter will focus on commercial biosensors
and the underlying science behind their functionality.
