Apple and Samsung are working on blood sugar monitoring watches

Smartwatches have added some incredibly sophisticated health features in recent years, with the ability to take EKGs to diagnose atrial fibrillation and monitor your blood oxygen levels. But if rumors are to be believed, the next iteration of Samsung’s Galaxy Watch and Apple Watch Series 7 could tempt the holy grail of health tools: non-invasive blood glucose monitoring.

The report comes from AND News, which claims that Samsung plans to launch the feature in the second half of this year with a so-called Galaxy Watch 4, or perhaps a Galaxy Watch Active 3. Meanwhile, the publication also claims that Apple is also preparing for introduce the functionality on the 7 Series and has “obtained” the necessary patents. In both cases, glucose-monitoring will allegedly be carried out via a non-invasive optical sensor.

This is a classic case of “big if true”. However, it is not beyond the realm of the possible. In 2020, Samsung made team up with MIT develop a non-invasive method for blood sugarmonitoring using Raman spectroscopy and presented their findings in Scientific advances. As for Apple, blood sugarmonitoring rumors have floated around for a moment. Back in 2017, CNBC reported the company had a “secret group” of biomedical engineers working on a project to develop non-invasive sensors capable of monitoring blood sugar. The initiative was said to have been started by Steve Jobs and, by that time, had progressed to clinical trials in the Bay Area. According to MacRumors, around this time, Apple CEO Tim Cook was also spotted wear a potential prototype blood glucose meter connected to his Apple Watch.

At CES 2021, one of the portable devices that also stood out was – you guessed it – a non-invasive blood sugarsmartwatch monitoring from the Japanese startup Quantum Operation. This prototype was supposed to be able to measure blood sugar in real time via the wrist and also used “patented spectrum detection technology”.

So while it’s likely that we can see non-invasive glucose –watch somewhere down the line, it’s also a good idea to be a little skeptical about the timing. This technology would obviously be a boon for diabetics, who have to prick their skin several times a day to measure blood sugar. It would be a game changer, but only if exceptionally accurate, with a low margin of error and approved by appropriate regulatory bodies for consumer use. The ETNews report says Apple is “focusing on reliability and stability before this technology comes to market,” but this particular step could last anywhere from months to years.

The FDA is expected to approve any blood sugar monitoring smartwatch functionality, which can be a long process. EFri if the ETNews report is 100% true, it’s unclear whether FDA approvals would be obtained by Samsung or Apple by late summer or fall, when companies historically released new smartwatches. And, while the technology never reaches a reliable degree of precision, it may never make it to the wrists at all.

At present, it is too early to ask if blood sugarSurveillance will make an appearance on next-generation Samsung and Apple smartwatches. After all, no one expected FDA-approved EKGs with Series 4. But what if either company succeeded in achieving it in 2021? It would be the most massive update of any smartwatch we’ve ever seen.