GlucoBone: A Non-Invasive Early Detection Sensor System for Diabetes and Bone Disorders wins Rep. Dan Newhouse’s 2025 Congressional App Challenge in Washington’s Fourth District

When asked what inspired the creation of GlucoBone, Akshath Motkuri said, “The inspiration behind GlucoBone came from a deeply personal experience with my grandparents in India. My family visits every two to three years, and during one of our trips, I witnessed something that stayed with me. My grandfather, who had diabetes, was using a traditional method to monitor his blood sugar—pricking his skin with a sharp tool to draw blood for testing. Watching him go through that process repeatedly was painful—not just for him, but for me as well. I couldn’t accept that such invasive methods were still the norm, especially for people like my grandfather who had to endure this discomfort on a regular basis.

“That moment sparked an idea. I wanted to create a non-invasive, affordable, and effective health monitoring system, one that could help not only detect diabetes but also related bone disorders like arthritis, foot ulcers, and diabetic foot complications. That’s how GlucoBone was born.

“GlucoBone is an AI-powered health diagnostic tool that uses three key sensors—the MPU6050, Flex sensor, and Piezo-Electric sensor—to collect data on movement, bone pressure, and foot health. These sensors allow the system to monitor signs like irregular motion, weight imbalance, and abnormal joint activity, all of which can be early indicators of diabetes or bone disorders.

“To analyze the collected data, I used the K-Nearest Neighbor (KNN) machine learning algorithm, which classifies each case into three categories: Diabetic, Bone Disorder Detected, or Normal. The dataset was split into 80% training and 20% testing, ensuring a balanced and reliable prediction system.

“What makes GlucoBone powerful is its accessibility—it doesn’t rely on expensive lab equipment or invasive testing. It’s a compact, user-friendly solution that could be used in rural clinics, low-resource communities, or even at home. Ultimately, GlucoBone represents my vision of making preventative healthcare more humane, accessible, and proactive—starting with a problem I saw firsthand in my own family.”