According to the American Diabetes Association, a staggering 25.8 million children and adults in the United States have diabetes. While some cases are more severe than others, it goes without saying that living with diabetes can become very troublesome. Constantly pricking fingers for glucose testing and insulin injections can become quite a bother.

Hoping to ease the lifestyle of diabetics, scientists at the Institute of Industrial Science at the University of Tokyo are currently researching a new way to monitor blood glucose levels that may help diabetics get back to their normal lives. The researchers have begun testing on glowing glucose monitors that are implanted under a thin layer of skin.

The implants are as small as 1mm in diameter and can be injected into the skin with very little pain and removed like a splinter with a simple pair of tweezers. When implanted into the skin, the monitors will become sensitive to changes in glucose levels and immediately glow when blood sugar spikes to dangerous levels. Currently, the implants have been shown to work reliably in mice for 140 days so a human version may not be too far down the line.