Should Diabetic Patients Buy an Apple Watch? "Apple Makes Major Progress in Blood Glucose Measurement Technology Without Blood Sampling"

[Asia Economy Reporter Jeong Hyunjin] Apple has made significant progress in developing a blood glucose meter that can measure blood sugar without drawing blood, bringing it one step closer to its goal of incorporating this feature into the Apple Watch, Bloomberg reported on the 22nd (local time).

According to Bloomberg, citing sources, Apple has been secretly working on the development of a blood glucose meter that does not require blood drawing under a project called 'E5' since the time of founder Steve Jobs. Bloomberg predicted, "If Apple adds a blood glucose monitoring system to the Apple Watch, which is Apple's ultimate goal, the Apple Watch will become an essential item for millions of diabetes patients worldwide."

[Image source=AP Yonhap News]

According to the report, the blood glucose meter Apple is developing uses a self-designed silicon photonics (optical semiconductor) and a spectroscopic absorption system to shine a laser on the interstitial fluid in the capillaries under the skin and measure blood glucose with a sensor. It has undergone experiments on hundreds of people over more than ten years, and currently, the technology development has reached the proof-of-concept stage, Bloomberg explained.

At this point, Apple is focusing on the size of the blood glucose meter. To make it practically usable, they are developing a prototype the size of an iPhone that can be worn on the biceps, and related departments are reportedly already discussing government approval issues.

Bloomberg reported that Apple has deployed hundreds of engineers on this project and invested hundreds of millions of dollars in development costs. In particular, CEO Tim Cook, COO Jeff Williams, and Apple Watch hardware head Eugene Kim are all involved, indicating that the management team has high expectations and interest in this business.

Apple began developing a blood glucose meter without blood drawing in 2010 with the acquisition of the startup RareLight. Under Jobs' immense interest, Apple steadily invested in technology development but proceeded secretly rather than publicly revealing it. In fact, before the development work was transferred to XDG, an internal organization for developing innovative technology, Apple created a startup called 'Avalonte Health,' which was publicly known as unrelated to Apple, to carry out the development.

Blood glucose meters without blood drawing have been devices many companies, including Apple and Google, have tried to develop. Google started developing a smart contact lens that measures blood glucose through tears in 2014 but announced it would abandon development in 2018. Currently, medical device companies Dexcom and Abbott have released patch-type blood glucose meters consisting of sensors, monitors, and receivers implanted under the skin, but they need to be replaced every two weeks.