Recently I participated in a clinical trial of the dream-beam.  The dream-
beam is a device to measure BG by using laser to assess BG levels.  I’m afraid
I don’t have a lot of info about this, but I’ll tell what I did find out.
It is reasonable portable:  it is about 5 or 6 inches tall, about 3.5 inches
wide, and about 1.5 to 2 inches thick.  It does not appear to need to be
calibrated to each individual.  The machine requires only that the proper sized
finger receptacle be found for the individual’s finger size (this is a
simple process taking all of about 20 seconds, and need only be done once
unless your finger grows).  The index finger of the left hand is placed into
the receptacle which is on the left side of the machine.  The thumb and other
fingers must be positioned in certain other places on the machine–presumably
to avoid extraneous readings.  It takes about 10 seconds to get a reading.
The trial I went to is supposed to be the final clinical trial before
submitting the final product to be approved for the open market.  Apparently it
is hoped that the machine will be available by the end of October of this
year, but I guess given bureaucracy I would be surprised if that happened.
I’m afraid I do not have any idea of what the cost will be, but apparently they
believe it will be about the same as one year’s supply of test strips.  Not a
very hard figure given the vast variation, but perhaps that gives some idea.
Anyway, it is my feeling that these guys are very close and that within a year
we will see these start to show up on the market.