A Korean report states that an Apple Watch blood sugar sensor will be included in the Series 7 device when it launches later this year.
As health apps are an important selling point of the Apple Watch, the Cupertino company was long expected to want to expand its medical capabilities …
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When Apple first launched the Apple Watch, the company marketed it primarily as a convenient way to view and respond to notifications. However, it quickly became clear that it was health and fitness features that were driving sales, and Apple adapted its messaging and product development focus accordingly.
CEO Tim Cook initially suggested that the company would be cautious about adding medical resources to the watch, as it feared that the need for FDA approval could prevent innovation.
We do not want to submit the watch to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) process. I wouldn’t mind putting something adjacent to the clock through it, but not the clock, because that would prevent us from innovating too much, the cycles are too long. But you can start to imagine other things that may be adjacent to it – maybe an app, maybe something else.
Responding to customer demand, however, Cook changed his mind. The company added ECG functionality to the watch in 2018, including Afib detection – and last year saw blood oxygen saturation added to Series 6 features.
Apple Watch blood sugar sensor
A blood sugar sensor would be an obvious next step. The American Diabetes Association estimates that more than 10% of Americans have type 1 diabetes, and that more than 26 million of them are undiagnosed. Adding a blood sugar sensor to your Apple Watch can play an extremely valuable role in ordering tests, diagnostics and formal treatments.
THE ET News reports say that both the Apple Watch Series 7 and the Samsung Galaxy Watch 4 will be able to measure blood sugar when each is released later this year.
Samsung Electronics will be equipped with a blood glucose measurement function in the new ‘Galaxy Watch 4’ smart watch (tentative name) to be launched in the second half of this year. It is a bloodless sampling method that detects the blood glucose level without blood collection using an optical sensor and should contribute to the health management of the general public, as well as diabetics […]
Not only Samsung Electronics, but Apple is also applying the blood glucose measurement function to the Apple Watch 7 that will be released this year. With related patent technology secured, he is focusing on ensuring reliability and stability before making the technology available.
It is not clear at this stage whether the existing infrared sensor will be able to function as a blood glucose detector as well. You can now buy affordable home test devices that sync with your iPhone and Apple Watch, but these rely on small bites. The current focus is on non-invasive detection, and this can be achieved by using infrared sensors.
The heart rate sensor on all Apple Watches is capable of acting as an O2 sensor, but Apple has reserved this feature for the Series 6. Even though the same sensor can measure blood sugar as well, the company can adopt the same approach and manufacture is a unique feature of Series 7 for marketing reasons.
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