Last updated: February 24, 2023, 7:45 AM IST
Apple Watch with a blood glucose meter could be a game changer
Apple Watch has become an essential health tool on their wrist and soon it could take attention to another level.
Apple has taken a big lead in the wearable health segment over the years with Apple Watch, and new reports suggest it has no plans to stop there. Apple has managed to offer ECG for heart rate tracking, which has become a useful tool for people to track their heart rate.
And soon Apple could have an essential tool that allows Apple Watch wearers to track their blood glucose levels, which is crucial for people with diabetes-like health conditions. Usually, people have to insert a needle into the body to measure blood glucose levels, but Apple Watch could put an end to that sooner than we expect, according to details disclosed in a report from Bloomberg.
The report gives more technical details and says that Apple is looking into a silicon photonics chip that uses laser technology to provide blood glucose readings from under the skin on the Apple Watch.
Sources quoted in the report claim that Apple has come a long way with the technology, but it still needs to reduce the size of this chip to fit the Apple Watch. The company had been working on the feature for more than a decade when it bought a company called RareLight, which specializes in making blood glucose monitoring systems.
The delay in having this feature on the final product is that the prototype is still the size of an iPhone, according to the report, which means you can wear it on the arm, but Apple clearly doesn’t see that as a viable model for this technology, and wants to further innovate to reduce its size to a thumb-sized chip, which will be a huge task. While the report claims development is moving at a rapid pace, we don’t really expect Apple to have it ready for the Apple Watch anytime soon.
And even if that happens, Apple will make sure the technology works 100 percent before it plans to make it available to consumers. We have seen a similar tactic for its multi-device wireless charger like AirPower, which never made it to the market due to various issues.
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