Method and apparatus for the monitoring of clinical states

A method for detecting a clinical state in a subject, comprising:

• acquiring a reference value of blood-glucose of the subject;
• correlating the reflectance of light in the skin with the reference value of blood-glucose of the subject;
• propagating at least one probing light beam into the skin of the subject from a propagation point;
• measuring reflectance values of the at least one probing light beam from at least two distances from the propagation point;
• computing an estimation parameter value representative of a variation in glucose value using the measured reflectance values and the correlation between the reflectance of light in the skin with the reference value of blood-glucose of the subject;
• comparing the estimation parameter value with a critical parameter value, wherein the critical parameter value is indicative of a clinical state;
• and
• indicating that a clinical state is detected if the estimation parameter value has reacted the critical parameter value.

A method for detecting a clinical state in a subject, comprising:

• acquiring a reference value of blood-glucose of the subject;
• correlating at least two parameters of skin of the body of the subject with the reference value of blood-glucose of the subject;
• propagating at least two probing light beams into the skin from at least one propagation point;
• measuring reflectance values of the at least two probing light beams from at least two distances from the at least one propagation point;
• estimating values representative of the at least two parameters of skin of the body of the subject using the measured reflectance values and a mathematical skin parameter estimation model;
• computing an estimation parameter value representative of a variation in glucose value using the estimated values of the at least two parameters of skin of the body of the subject and the correlation between the at least two parameters of skin of the body of the subject with the reference value of blood-glucose of the subject;
• comparing the estimation parameter value with a critical parameter value, wherein the critical parameter value is indicative of a clinical state;
• and
• indicating that a clinical state is detected if the estimation parameter value has reached the critical parameter value.

A method for computing an estimate of a value representative of at least one parameter of skin selected from a group including chromophore concentrations and a scattering coefficient, comprising:

• propagating at least two probing light beams into the skin from at least one propagation point;
• measuring reflectance values of the at least two probing light beams from at least two distances from the at least one propagation point;
• computing estimates of the at least one parameter of skin of the body of the subject using a reflectance mathematical model;
• and
• outputting the estimate of the value representative of the at least one selected parameters of skin.

An apparatus for detecting a clinical state in a subject, comprising:

• an input for acquiring a reference value of blood-glucose of the subject;
• a measurement mechanism for measuring one or more non-invasive physical measurements of the body of the subject;
• a display;
• a microcontroller in operatively connected to the input, the measurement mechanism and the display, wherein the microcontroller comprises an algorithm for:
• computing an estimation parameter value representative of a variation in glucose value using the measured one or more non-invasive physical measurements and a correlation between the one or more non-invasive physical measurements of the body of the subject with the reference value of blood-glucose of the subject;
• comparing the estimation parameter value with a critical parameter value, wherein the critical parameter value is indicative of a clinical state;
• and
• indicating on the display that a clinical state has been detected if the estimation parameter value has reached the critical parameter value.

An apparatus for computing an estimate of a value representative of at least one parameter of skin selected from a group including chromophore concentrations and a scattering coefficient, comprising:

• emitter for propagating at least two probing light beams into the skin from at least one propagation point;
• at least two receivers for measuring reflectance values of the at least two probing light beams from at least two distances from the at least one propagation point;
• a display;
• a microcontroller in operatively connected to the receivers and the display, wherein the microcontroller comprises an algorithm for:
• computing estimates of the at least one parameter of skin of the body of the subject using a reflectance mathematical model;
• and
• outputting to the display the estimate of the value representative of the at least one selected parameters of skin.