BACKGROUND: Diabetes is a life-altering disease that has affected seven percent of all Americans -- and that number is only projected to increase. Complications of the disease include blindness, kidney disease, nervous system disease, dental disease and problems during pregnancy. It's also the sixth leading cause of premature death for persons who have the disease compared to persons of similar age. Patients with type 1 diabetes -- also known as juvenile diabetes -- are usually first diagnosed in childhood or young adulthood. These patients rely on insulin injections to control their blood glucose levels and to keep them alive because their pancreas no longer makes insulin. Patients with type 2 diabetes -- also know as adult-onset diabetes -- have the most common form of diabetes. It usually begins with insulin resistance, where fat, muscle and liver cells do not use insulin properly. Over time, the pancreas loses the ability to produce enough insulin in response to meals. Risk factors of type 2 diabetes include being overweight and inactive.

TESTING FOR DIABETES: The traditional way of testing to see whether someone has diabetes is to draw them into a "fasting" state by having them consume a syrupy, sweet liquid, then drawing blood to test blood glucose levels. This can be time consuming and painful for some patients. Some believe the uncomfortable testing method keeps some patients from coming in to get tested. As a result, their disease continues to progress, making their condition even worse as complications develop before the diagnosis is eventually made. As such, diabetes is called "the most un-diagnosed disease in the world" by many experts. Robert Ratner, M.D., a professor of medicine at Georgetown University Medical School, says most diabetes is diagnosed from seven to 10 years after its onset.

TESTING WITH LIGHT: The VeraLight Scout system tests for diabetes in a fast, painless way. Using non-invasive fluorescent light, the machine shines the reflective light onto the patient's skin to measure AGEs (advanced glycation endproducts), which are well-known markers of diabetes, in the connective tissue of a patient's forearm. Patients place their arm in the machine, the light shines, and minutes later, doctors have a diagnosis. Users say one of the benefits of the test is that it can very sensitively detect small changes in the connective tissue that may reflect early onset diabetes. As a result, they can detect diabetes early on. Secondly, the device could predict the development of diabetes complications in patients with established diabetes.

The system has been tested on thousands of individuals in tests across the country. The device itself weighs about 10 pounds. Introduction into the United States' market is slated for the second half of 2008.