Estimating Blood Sugar from Voice Samples: A Preliminary Study

Diabetes is a widespread disease. Patients have to pay attention to their blood sugar value all the time. Hypoglycemia and hyperglycemia are dangerous and must be treated. Self-testing, typically involving a prick with a lancet, is often painful and the costs for testing devices and supplies are immense. It is well-known that the human voice carries all kinds of information and depends on various factors. Therefore we conjectured that it may also be influenced by the blood sugar level. This paper presents a preliminary study which shows that a patient´s blood sugar condition actually seems to manifest itself in the voice. Results encourage us to go the next steps: a largescale long time study in collaboration with medical experts and, finally, the development of a measurement device or smartphone app.