In the not-too-distant future, smartwatches sold by Apple could measure blood glucose without pricking the skin.
Apple would have crossed an important threshold in the development of a technology to non-invasively measure blood glucose, claim sources within the company quoted by Bloomberg.
Internally called E5, Apple’s project uses silicon photonics and optical absorption spectroscopy measurement. Basically, the interstitial fluid under the skin is illuminated with lasers, and the reflection reaching the sensor shows the glucose concentration.
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Apple’s goal is to integrate this technology into the company’s smartwatches, to appeal to millions of diabetics who prick their finger to measure their blood sugar.
Apple has been working on non-invasive blood glucose measurement for many years, a project dating back to Steve Jobs’ lifetime.
The company appears to be focusing on the technology’s preventative role, using blood glucose monitoring to warn those who are pre-diabetic.
The project is being developed within the Exploratory Design Group division, which explores future technologies, employing several hundred engineers. Apple makes efforts to keep the activities of this division secret.
Although it is still a matter of years before this technology reaches the market, analysts believe that Apple will take on the pharma companies that currently sell glucose meters and that Apple will slowly become one of the big players of this market.
