Glucose Monitoring Wearables

Wearables these days can offer a host of impressive features. But perhaps none would be quite so impressive as a device that can offer glucose monitoring. For those who have diabetes, the benefits of a device that could achieve this would be truly amazing. Here, we take a closer look at whether glucose monitoring wearables are likely to appear on the market any time soon. And, moreover, whether or not they are likely to be worth the investment if and when they arrive. Smartwatches and Health Monitoring In the press in recent years, you’ll almost certainly have read stories about people who discovered that they suffered from a heart problem or other serious health issue only when their smartwatch told them to see a doctor. It’s clear, then, that wearables today have progressed considerably since the early days of just step tracking! Now, wearables from some of the biggest names in the industry – Samsung, Fitbit, and Apple among them. Refer to their wearables not as smartwatches as such but as health monitoring devices. While some features these devices offer don’t yet have regulatory approval as official medical devices, they are still offering some impressive benefits. Recent developments in the wearable arena have included ECG monitoring, pulse oximeters, and temperature skin sensors. All integrated into the design of smartwatches. However, one kind of biomarker and sensor that has yet to appear on smartwatches is the ability to monitor glucose levels non-invasively. At present, devices are available that can monitor glucose levels and then be connected to a smartwatch or smartphone to supply the obtained data. However, no smartwatch has yet been invented that is capable of offering this feature independently. Nevertheless, it’s something that people with diabetes would welcome heartily. Especially since it looks likely that more than 700 million...