Diabetes self-care is literally a pain both for patients and also for the caretakers . It brings the constant need to draw blood for glucose testing, the need for daily insulin shots and the heightened risk of infection and pain from all that poking. Continuous glucose monitors and insulin pumps are today’s best options for automating most of the complicated daily process of blood sugar management – but they don’t completely remove the need for skin pricks and shots . and also are very costly compared to the old traditional methods.. But there’s new player in this game.  Echo Therapeutics (Philadelphia, PA) is developing technologies that would replace the poke with a patch. The company is working on a transdermal biosensor that reads blood analytes through the skin without drawing blood. A good step indeed.. The technology involves a handheld electric-toothbrush-like device that removes just enough top-layer skin cells to put the patient’s blood chemistry within signal range of a patch-borne biosensor. The sensor collects one reading per minute and sends the data wirelessly to a remote monitor, triggering audible alarms when levels go out of the patient’s optimal range and tracking glucose levels over time . so the patients as well as doctor can have a clear record of blood glucose and can also monitor the dosing regimen..