In accordance with the invention, a low coherence interferometer is used
to non-invasively monitor the concentration of glucose in blood by
shining a light over a surface area of human or animal tissue,
continuously scanning the light over a two dimensional area of the
surface, collecting the reflected light from within the tissue and
constructively interfering this reflected light with light reflected
along a reference path to scan the tissue in depth. Since the reflection
spectrum is sensitive to glucose concentration at particular wavelengths,
measurement and analysis of the reflected light provides a measure of the
level of glucose in the blood. The measurement of glucose is taken from
multiple depths within blood-profused tissue, and sensitivity is
preferably enhanced by the use of multiple wavelengths. Noise or speckle
associated with this technique is minimized by continuously scanning the
illuminated tissue in area and depth.