This is one technology that I've been waiting for for over a decade. Apple apparently hasn't given up on it, despite working on it for 10+ years as well. I am hopeful it can be solved because diabetes is one of the biggest killers on Earth today.
Researchers design wearable tech that can sense glucose levels more accurately
131–140 of 171 posts
Re: Researchers design wearable tech that can sense glucose levels more accurately
#132Sounds exciting, but the fact their prototype is in a wristwatch form factor makes me wonder if it's aiming to be more of a media showpiece to hype investment valuation from those industry partners. Forward looking statements like "maybe we'll make it monitor blood pressure too" don't help. Even at the size of a brick, or without conveniently hiding the power supply off-camera, forgoing needles would still be a huge…
Type-2 diabetes is commonly comorbid with hypertension (similar root causes) so combining both sensors in a single wrist device would be useful for many patients. There are existing wrist blood pressure monitors such as Aktiia. Not as accurate as an arm cuff, but good enough for routine monitoring. https://aktiia.com/
Where can i buy?
Re: Researchers design wearable tech that can sense glucose levels more accurately
#133Slightly OT, but just last night I finished a 15-day Dexcom Stelo CGM session. If you can afford the $99, I highly recommend it. There is a world of difference between an intellectual understanding of blood glucose and actually witnessing your body maintaining exquisite control over a system dependent on food, exercise, stress, time of day, and the idiosyncrasies of your individual insulin response.
I’ve been looking to try an CGM to see how all those factors affect my blood sugar. Is Dexcom Stelo the best available OTC? How do you like the analytics in the app?
Re: Researchers design wearable tech that can sense glucose levels more accurately
#134I wonder what other health measurements could be obtained with this technology? Sending radar through the wrist seems like a method that could observe much more information, although I am not sure which.
Perhaps common ailments such as iron insuffiency (anaemia), excess bilirubin, heck maybe even cholesterol?
Re: Researchers design wearable tech that can sense glucose levels more accurately
#135Earlier quoted context omitted.
Having talked with T1 diabetics about such systems, the issue is that you don’t want to deplete glycogen stores just for basal management. Because your life might depend on their levels in case of a severe hypo.
What exactly do you mean by "you don’t want to deplete glycogen stores" ?
It sounds like the system would release a hormone known as glucagon when blood sugar levels are too low. Glucagon triggers cellular pathways that break down glycogen stores into glucose molecules, and releases the glucose into the bloodstream. This is opposed to how diabetics handle it normally, by merely eating a sugary snack- however that takes longer to impact blood sugar levels. Depleting these stores could be catastrophic when they actually need a large amount of sugar to be dumped into the bloodstream
Disclaimer: not a doctor or biologist
Re: Researchers design wearable tech that can sense glucose levels more accurately
#136We - at DiaMonTech - are working on non-invasive glucose monitoring for over a decade now. It's a hard and complex problem and as long as clinical data is missing, I'm very sceptical. We just reached (in a clinical trial) a comparable accuracy as early-stage invasive devices that got FDA approved with a shoe-box-sized device and we still have some work to do. The pre-print of our publication is here: https://www.rese…
Why do you think that this will not reach the market anytime soon?
Re: Researchers design wearable tech that can sense glucose levels more accurately
#137> Currently, diabetics must frequently prick their fingers or rely on invasive wearable patches with micro-needles to track their blood-sugar levels Type 1 diabetic here - for what it's worth, CGMs aren't particularly invasive. At least in comparison to the many many years of finger pricking! But a smart watch solution would be cool. (I actually do get my CGM readings on my smart watch, which is really nice!) I know…
I don't use one or have diabetes but my understanding is that current CGMs measure interstitial glucose levels, which lag blood levels by up to 15 minutes. As a result, I believe those who require accurate spot measurements rather than just overall trends are still recommended to use finger stick tests. In the article, the researcher claims "No other technology can provide this level of precision without direct conta…
Type 1 here, a 15 min lag is fine. The constant sampling especially overnight and the multiday graphs are what I love about CGM. I've always been in decent but loose control 6.7 to 7.1 A1C (longer term measurement). After a year w CGM I got to 6.5. Now last checkup I'm at 5.9, this ties my record from my first month on Lantus insulin, never repeated in 19 years until now. Also getting numbers on phone and checking number every 15 min while driving are amazing. The stock software for Dexcom and Freestyle are both abysmal. Both refuse to allow silent mode, Dexcom has a hard 6 hours left on sensor uninteruptable alarm, woke me up at 4 am, coustomer service had nothing to say, so Goodbye. I went back to Freestyle their handheld reader is silencable and I use a third party app called Juggluco for my Android phone. Sorry I've survived 42 years on human insulin I don't want software taking over my life w unsilencable alerts. Anyone w less than 10 or 20 years OK, but my brain has extra backup pathways and I'm still functionable down to 50 (very rare), and I can recognize dimished coordination and the emotional shifts that accompany dips. Plus I have life experience to know my low time of day and to watch w exertion.
Re: Researchers design wearable tech that can sense glucose levels more accurately
#138Earlier quoted context omitted.
Yes, the article is thin on facts. No mention of the frequency that they use, and how they measure the glucose level, which I'm guessing is some sort of spectral response. I'll take a closer look at the paper in Nature.
Direct link (from end of article): https://www.nature.com/articles/s44172-024-00194-4
Thanks for that.
The paper is way overhyped. They've just built a meta material near field antenna. Nothing new I can see.
There are other papers available via Googling that glucose can be measured at around 4.2GHz. Seems hard to do it reliably, though.
Re: Researchers design wearable tech that can sense glucose levels more accurately
#139Earlier quoted context omitted.
Well… yes. Looking at the article, it satisfies the MVP requirements for getting grant funding. A bar GlucoWatch cleared more than two decades ago, though it could never quite clear the bar of clinical viability. Theranos also had an MVP in this sense :)
I have probably seen "viable" overinterpreted 100s of times by now. Perhaps we need to re-interpret the 'V' in "MVP" as "VC-investable" or perhaps replace it with 'I' to be I)nvestible which gets you a more pronounceable "MIP" (and maybe, just maybe highlights uncertainty since all investment carries risk)? Happens to also abbreviate "Multum In Parvo" (Latin for "many/much in little") which is not even that far off f…
Indeed, and for different audiences, you need to be ready to present your MIP with different levels of detail. I propose we call this new process... MIP mapping. :p
Re: Researchers design wearable tech that can sense glucose levels more accurately
#140> Currently, diabetics must frequently prick their fingers or rely on invasive wearable patches with micro-needles to track their blood-sugar levels Type 1 diabetic here - for what it's worth, CGMs aren't particularly invasive. At least in comparison to the many many years of finger pricking! But a smart watch solution would be cool. (I actually do get my CGM readings on my smart watch, which is really nice!) I know…
Not diabetic myself but managing my little kids T1. If we could go from one poke every 10 days to 0 pokes, I am all in. Skeptical of the accuracy as well though especially for someone who is too young to fully participate and not fully hypoglycemic aware.
Low sugar awareness is a learned and developed skill. As blood sugar drops, systems shut down. The issue is that the Frontal Lobe turns off at some point. Thankfully the energy conservation reduces that impact, but once severely low I can answer a myriad of questions wrongly. I reccomend cake-mate frosting tubes used to write on cakes as an emergency prep. That can be squeezed carefully into mouth between teeth and gums and begins a bootstrap process. Another suggestion make the low fun emotionally so please try and hide anger and fear. With the sensor and fairly tight control we haven't needed the cakemate in years now but it's good to have. A Glucagon shot is another thing to keep around too. I use olive oil on my food to have unsaturated fat as a backup nonglycemic energy source. Just be mindful virgin olive oil isn't to be used for cooking, only refined non-virgin is for cooking. Also fyi Walmart has always had affordable diabetic supplies. I use their meter and strips as an extra spare. Their Relion glucose pills are very good too, I keep them everywhere and carry them with me. To equate blood sugar to body mass divide weight in pounds by 4.4 (kilograms by 2), that gives a number for what 100 equals in grams of carbohydrates to better fine tune sliding scale insulin dosages and not overcorrecting lows. Best wishes as it is very stressful for loved ones.