Apple gets one step closer to finishing the 'no-needle' glucose tech Steve Jobs dreamed of
Apple has just gotten one step closer to finishing a piece of tech that could transform blood glucose tracking.
The tech giant has spent the last 10 years working on a way to create a ‘no-needle’ glucose tracker, something Steve Jobs reportedly envisioned when he was at the helm of the company. Now, a new report suggests that the feature could well be on the horizon for the Apple Watch.
Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman reported that the project could be set to have a ‘potential breakthrough’.
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Gurman wrote: “First conceived during the Steve Jobs era, the effort aims to develop sensors capable of detecting elevated blood sugar levels without requiring finger pricks or blood draws.
“Recently, Apple shifted oversight of the project from platform architecture chief Tim Millet to Zongjian Chen, the senior engineering leader overseeing the Advanced Technologies Group and hardware like modems. Some view the transition as a sign the work may finally be progressing to a point where Chen, known as someone who delivers, can ramp up development of the technology into an eventual consumer-grade offering.”
According to the report, the current Apple CEO Tim Cook has shared that he wants Apple ‘to be remembered for its contributions to healthcare’.
However, it will be up to Cook’s replacement, John Ternus and the firm’s next generation of executives to ‘deliver on that ambition’.
Otherwise, Gurman warned that ‘Apple’s health push will be remembered as a squandered opportunity’.
So, how will the monitor work? Currently, the way in which people can track their levels is by using needle-type glucose monitors.
These use a tiny, hair-thin filament which is inserted just under the skin. The filament is able to measure the sugar levels in the fluid between your cells.
However, Apple’s non-invasive system would work using lasers within the Apple Watch sensor array.
This will then be able to detect the fluids under the skin that can absorb glucose.
It is not yet clear when this groundbreaking tech will be made available for consumers but it is set to be revolutionary when it does eventually drop.
Many people have taken to social media to share their own reactions to the news, with one user writing on Reddit: “Noninvasive blood glucose monitoring would be genuinely revolutionary for consumer healthcare.”
Another said: “There’s a big difference between wellness metabolic estimation and FDA-cleared glucose monitor for diabetics. I think Apple’s insistence on doing the latter is what makes it so hard to bring to market.”
And a third added: “I hope it’s real I dislike removing the dexacom patches from my arm.”