Diabetes is a chronic condition where the patient is unable to regulate their own blood glucose levels (1). Insulin is a peptide hormone produced by pancreatic islets beta cells: it breaks down glucose into glycogen that is absorbed by cells in the liver, fat and muscles. If blood glucose levels are not managed properly, it can result in patients developing life-threatening complications like diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA), heart attack or stroke.

In 2021, it was estimated around 537 million adults between the ages of 20-79 years old were living with diabetes: this is expected to rise to 643 million by 2030. 1 in 2 adults (240 million) with diabetes went undiagnosed and 541 million adults had an increased risk of developing type 2 diabetes (2).

Pressure sensors have many applications and are widely used devices; especially in the automotive, medical, and industrial sectors. A pressure sensor is a device that measures the pressure of volatile gasses or liquids: pressure is the ratio of a force to the area force is applied to. Pressure sensors operate signal transductions to generate signals under specific pressures: gravity and most physical contact can generate pressure. They can be used to control and monitor thousands of everyday applications and can be indirectly used to measure fluid/gas flows, speed, water level and more (1).

Large-scale diagnostic laboratories have proven very efficient in delivering test results world-wide and allowing us to diagnose a large array of diseases and change the way we deliver healthcare. Despite offering accurate results, these laboratories rely on experienced staff undertaking lengthy protocols, with large volumes of reagents, that drive up costs and ultimately leading to long result turnaround times.

Despite rigorous optimisation, bioassay performance runs the risk of being compromised by background noise. For reliable results, it is essential that background noise is both accurately distinguished from true signal and minimised to prevent its interference with the detection of low-concentration analytes.