Apple Watch’s blood glucose monitoring looks to be progressing. Bloomberg sources say the company’s no-prick monitoring is at a “proof-of-concept stage” and good enough to market once smaller. Lasers measure glucose concentration under the skin in a tabletop device, but an iPhone-sized wearable version is in development.
Insiders say the system should alert prediabetics and help diabetics track their conditions. They could then avoid adult-onset Type 2 diabetes.
Apple refused to comment. The project allegedly took a long time to develop. In 2010, an ailing Steve Jobs bought blood glucose tracking startup RareLight. Avolonte Health, a seemingly isolated firm, was folded into a previously unknown Exploratory Design Group by Apple to keep the work hidden. (XDG). Tim Cook, Eugene Kim, and others were present.
Bloomberg expects a real-world product to take years. The business also struggles to launch no-prick monitors. Alphabet’s health company Verily abandoned a smart contact lens that tracked glucose using tears in 2018. Thus, even major brands with vast resources can fail, and Apple’s answer is unclear.
This tech has great incentives for wearables. Apple Watch Series 8 can detect atrial arrhythmia, low blood oxygen, and ovulation cycles. Non-intrusive glucose tracking could make it essential for diabetics because you wouldn’t need a dedicated device that invades your skin, like a continuous glucose sensor that sends data from an electrode-equipped thin needle to an external receiver. That painless method may give the Apple Watch an edge over other smartwatches.
