Apple is reportedly working on sensors for diabetes treatment
Apple is quietly developing sensors that can track the body’s blood sugar levels in a bid to help people with diabetes, CNBC reports.
The company has apparently hired a small team of biomechanical
engineers to work on the project, which would monitor glucose levels
through contact with the skin, rather than through invasive blood tests
or similar mechanisms.
The company is basing the team working on the sensors out
of an office in Palo Alto, rather than at its main headquarters. The
engineers have apparently been working on the sensor technology for at
least five years, and it is complete enough that Apple has started
feasibility trials at clinical locations in the Bay Area. The company
has also hired consultants that are helping it navigate complex health
regulations, CNBC says.
The team is reportedly managed by Johny Srouji, Apple's
senior vice president of hardware technologies, but previously reported
to Michael D. Hillman before he left the company in 2015. CNBC says the
team is made up of about 30 people, including biomedical experts Apple
hired away from major firms like Masimo Corp, Sano, Medtronic, and C8
Medisensors. Those hires, reported early last year, sparked speculation that Apple may indeed be working on such a product.
The idea of wearable devices being used to manage
conditions like diabetes was developed during Steve Jobs’ tenure as
Apple head, but developing technology that can accurately measure blood
sugar levels without piercing the skin is particularly difficult. John
L. Smith, a biomedical expert who has published papers
on the failure of non-invasive glucose sensors, said it was "the most
difficult technical challenge I have encountered in my career."
Apple’s in-development solution reportedly shines light
through the skin to check current glucose levels. Google is also working
on its own glucose monitors, but has taken a different approach. The
company is currently developing a contact lens that is intended to track blood sugar through contact with the eye, and a bandage-sized device being developed by its Life Sciences division.
It’s not yet clear when Apple’s sensor will be complete,
nor whether it would come as part of its own device, or be included in
an Apple Watch or similar product down the line. If it can pull it off,
however, the sensor could make life easier — and Apple products more
desirable — for people with diabetes.
The article was published on : theverge
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