Problem based learning has been adopted worldwide in several disciplines of education particularly in medicine. The
opportunity for implementation of problem based learning component was observed with the implementation of openended
laboratory in engineering education. Achievements of students in two cohorts were compared to assess the
effectiveness of the problem based learning component implementation component in Engineering Laboratory 4. The
results shows promising improvement in students’ achievements.
A glucose meter (or glucometer) is a medical device for determining the approximate concentration of glucose in the
blood by pricking a finger to draw blood sample using a sharp needle. However, diabetic patient has quite slow level in
wound healing process which causes their fingers constantly in a state of wounded and exposed to bacteria. More
importantly, two main factors for the weakness of invasive technique is a painful process and cost often because constant
monitoring of glucose level is very expensive. The main objective of this research is to design and develop a non-invasive
optical measuring technique to measure body glucose level automatically and painlessly using a laser pointer and a
smartphone. Images captured by the smartphone is analysed using a Matlab software to determine the refractive index of
the urine sample. Calibration of the system is performed by correlating the results with that of the glucometer. Both
results compare well with R-squared value of 92.9%. The system can be potentially used for remote health and patient
monitoring.