Portable Urine Glucose Meter Hates Needles, Loves Pee

Most diabetics are tough enough to routinely test their blood without crying about it (the alternative to death is certainly a good one), but Tanita has announced a portable digital urine glucose meter for those with sugar-management diseases like diabetes and metabolic syndrome that needs no blood.

A portable unit of what they’ve had in hospitals for years, a user simply urinates on the sensor (a la home pregnancy tests) to measure the urine sugar level. Results take roughly six seconds. It’s not exactly the same as a blood sugar level, but the measurement should provide correlative evidence as to how much sugar is running rampant in one’s blood stream.

The unit will run US$154 when it’s released. Each sensor cartridge is good for 200 uses and will cost US$58 to replace. [TechOn]