The iQ Group Global, an Australian consortium, has announced that it developed a biosensor capable of accurately measuring glucose in a person’s saliva. The technology, originally acquired from the University of Newcastle in Australia, uses modified organic thin film transistors, which work in combination with glucoseoxidase, to measure the concentration of glucose in a sample.

The complete system consists of a Glucose Biosensor Unit, which does the measurements, and an accompanying smartphone app that talks to the biosensor and displays the readings once they’re taken.

Glucose in saliva is present in lower quantities than in blood, so the sensor has to be much more sensitive than your common glucometers that diabetic patients use every day. Because the sensor has a nearly perfect linear sensing capability, at concentrations of two orders of magnitude of that found in blood, the system may turn out to be the first practical non-invasive glucose monitoring solution on the market.

The technology is still in a pre-commercial stage and extensive validation studies will have to be performed before it is available to consumers.