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People with diabetes have to monitor their condition usually with the help of a blood-glucose test. Even though this test is one of the most effective ways to self-monitor diabetes, pricking one's finger is never pleasant. Furthermore, this procedure is often recommended to be done several times a day, which makes it a nuisance. However, the pricking days could be over soon according to researchers at Western New England University. The researchers believe that a handheld breathalyzer device has the potential to help monitor blood-glucose levels for diabetics.

"You hear that one of the common complaints among the diabetic community is the needle prick, even though it's minimally invasive, it's still an invasive technology," Ronny Priefer, a professor of medicinal chemistry at Western New England University said according to FOX News. "And even knowing you're only going to feel a little prick, if it's six to seven times a day it's going to decrease compliance and a lot of complications come from a lack of compliance with this well-established technology, the blood glucose test."

In order to create a device that would not require pricks into the skin, Priefer and his colleagues examined the relationship between people's blood-glucose levels and the acetone levels in people's breath. The team created a breathalyzer tool that was built with two polymers that can react to acetone. When a diabetic patient breathes into the breathalyzer, the device would ideally inform the patient of their blood glucose level.

"It actually uses the humidity...whereas other ones, even the smallest amount of humidity messes it up," Priefer said. "We'll be able to make something that is handheld and patients can bring them home for an eight-moth period starting late 2014 or early 2015."

The concept of a breathalyzer is nothing new. However, Priefer and his team's device is supposed to be cheaper and more effective. During the first stage of the trial, participants will have to use the finger prick test in combination with the breathalyzer device. The participants will be asked to keep a food journal so that the researchers can observe the effects different foods have on the readings. The researchers hope that their device could replace the prick method and save people from having to deal with the needle.