“Apple has hired a small team of biomedical engineers to work at a nondescript office in Palo Alto, miles from corporate headquarters,” Christina Farr reports for CNBC. “They are part of a super secret initiative, initially envisioned by the late Apple co-founder Steve Jobs, to develop sensors that can non-invasively and continuously monitor blood sugar levels to better treat diabetes, according to three people familiar with the matter.”
“Such a breakthrough would be a ‘holy grail’ for life sciences. Many life sciences companies have tried and failed, as it’s highly challenging to track glucose levels accurately without piercing the skin,” Farr reports. “The initiative is far enough along that Apple has been conducting feasibility trials at clinical sites across the Bay Area and has hired consultants to help it figure out the regulatory pathways, the people said.”
“The efforts have been going on for at least five years, the people said,” Farr reports. “Jobs envisioned wearable devices, like smartwatches, being used to monitor important vitals, such as oxygen levels, heart rate and blood glucose.”
The glucose team is said to report to Johny Srouji, Apple’s senior vice president of hardware technologies,” Farr reports. “speculation has been flying around since the company snapped up about a dozen biomedical experts from companies like Vital Connect, Masimo Corp, Sano, Medtronic, and C8 Medisensors. Some of these people joined the secretive team dedicated to glucose, sources said, while others are on Apple Watch team.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: If* achieved, Apple Watch would become the essential device for hundreds of millions of people with diabetes.
According to the International Diabetes Federation:
*It’s a big “IF.” Non-invasive continuous glucose monitoring would indeed be the “holy grail for treating diabetes.”
SEE ALSO:
Apple patent details Apple Watch smart bands – January 24, 2017
Emails between Apple and FDA hint at future plans – December 1, 2016
Analyst: Apple smartbands are a part of the Apple Watch’s future – April 8, 2016
Apple patent application hints at Apple Watch ‘Smartbands’ utilizing hidden 6-pin data connector – February 20, 2016
Why Apple’s iWatch won’t measure glucose levels – February 26, 2014
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Readers “Fred Mertz,” “Dan K.,” and “Bill” for the heads up.]