Samsung, Apple battle to be first to offer this major smartwatch feature
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We've been watching the progress that Apple has reportedly been making throughout the years developing a non-invasive blood glucose sensor for the Apple Watch. While it isn't known whether Apple will have finally nailed the complex technology this year in time to be included in the Apple Watch Series 11, the tech giant hopes to give diabetics blood glucose readings while also monitoring their blood sugars to alert them when their glucose is too high or too low.
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If a diabetic receives a warning that he is hyperglycemic, it means that his blood sugar is too high and he can damage his organs such as his eye, kidneys, and heart. A hypoglycemic alert indicates that the diabetic has low blood sugar and is in danger of passing out and going into a coma unless a sugary drink or candy bar can be consumed to hike the diabetic's blood sugar.
A diabetic tests his blood sugar using a glucometer. | Image credit-Lotus Diagnostic
Insulin-dependent diabetics typically test themselves before each meal by drawing a drop of blood from their finger, placing it on a test strip, and inserting the test strip into a machine called a glucometer that spits out the blood glucose results. Since this blood glucose test requires that a drop of blood be drawn using a needle, it is painful, and using disposable test strips means that the test can be expensive. Both Apple and Samsung hope to replace the pain and expense of this test using optical readers that can look at the blood of an Apple Watch or Samsung Galaxy Watch user and report his or her current blood sugar reading accurately.
On Thursday, during a Samsung Health forum in San Jose, Senior Vice President Hon Pak said that Samsung was making progress with the development of the non-invasive glucose monitor and said that if Samsung can nail the technology, its non-invasive blood glucose system for the Galaxy Watch will be "a game changer."
"What I’m really excited about is our team, as you may have assumed, we are working on a noninvasive optically-based continuous glucose monitor. I can’t tell you the time [of the launch], but I’m very excited about the progress we are making, and this, if we do it right, will be a game-changer."-Hon Pak SVP, Samsung.
Apple and Samsung are in a battle to see which one has their non-invasive glucose technology running on their smartwatch first. Whichever one manages to have their technology running on their smartwatch ahead of the other should reap the benefits of increased smartwatch sales. After all, there are several million insulin-dependent diabetics who need their blood sugars monitored multiple times a day and this number is growing.
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