Noncontact characterization of glucose by a waveguide microwave probe

We investigate the electromagnetic field interaction with a glucose aqueous solution using a microwave dielectric waveguide probe to evaluate the glucose concentrations. A microwave dielectric waveguide probe allows observation of the small variation of the glucose concentration changes in the range of 0–300 mg/ml by measuring the change of the microwave reflection coefficient. We could observe the effect of concentration change of glucose with a detectable resolution up to 0.5 mg/ml at an operating frequency of about f = 2.0–2.5 GHz. The change of the glucose concentration is directly related to the change of the reflection coefficient due to the electromagnetic interaction between the dielectric waveguide resonator and the glucose aqueous solution. The operational principal is explained by a plane-wave solution model. A glucose biosensor using a microwave dielectric waveguide probe provides a unique approach for glucose monitoring.