A Japanese startup at CES2021 claims to have solved one of the biggest problems in medical technology: continuous non-invasive glucose monitoring to measure diabetes.
Quantum Operation IncA Japanese startup says its wearable prototype can accurately measure blood glucose without needles from the wrist. The others, to make things clear immediately, fail to measure blood sugar without punctures.
The prototype, much like an Apple Watch, is equipped with a small spectrometer to scan blood and measure blood sugar. Quantum's presentation adds that the watch is also capable of reading other vital signs, including heart rate and ECG.
The quality characteristics
The company claims that the plus of the device is in its patented materials incorporated into the watch and strap. To use this needle-free blood glucose meter, the wearer simply needs to slide the watch and activate monitoring from the menu, the data is displayed after approximately 20 seconds.
Quantum's goals are to sell its hardware for needle-free blood glucose measurements, and build a big data platform. Collecting and examining the vast treasure of information generated by patients wearing the device can provide innumerable insights into scientific research.
Measure blood glucose without needles, comparison with devices already on the market (which have needles)
Quantum Operation provided a sampling of its data versus that made by a commercial finger-prick monitor, the FreeStyle Libre. And there appears to be considerable variation between the wearable device and the Libre. This, for now, could be a big problem for someone used to measuring their blood sugar by counting on accurate readings to determine their insulin dosage.
Non-invasive glucose monitoring is something of a Holy Grail for the medical industry and major wearable brands.
After all, one in 11 people are diabetic and this figure is bound to increase.
Needle-free blood glucose measurement: the state of the art
To stay healthy, diabetics today must undergo regular finger-prick blood tests or wear an implant to measure blood sugar. Non-prick blood glucose meters are a bit of a company's forbidden dream.
Over the past five years, companies like dexcom e Abbott they even found ways to connect these monitors to smartwatches for easier tracking.
Glucometer machine, strips, meters, you name it. Of course, the wearables industry has long been looking for a simpler, less invasive way to measure blood sugar without needles and take a share of the market. Among the very first to appear, there is an Italian patent (Glycolaser) dating back to 2012.
Unfortunately, no company has been able to successfully demonstrate a working buy version of this technology, at least not to a commercial standard.
In 2017 PKVitality introduced a watch that had a series of 0,5mm-high needles on the back, to collect interstitial fluid from the skin. But this can hardly be defined as “non-invasive”.
A reader device to obtain data without puncturing: everyone tries
Apple has also been working on a platform to measure blood glucose without lancing devices since before Steve Jobs died. In 2018, AppleInsider found a patent from the Cupertino company, relating to the electronic use of absorption spectroscopy to measure blood sugar without piercing your arm. Iwatch Blood Sugar: Sounds cool, huh? But nothing was done about it.
Even earlier (maybe too much), in 2013,the C8 MediSensors has failed in the task of providing reactive measurements without pricking itself with needles after raising a whopping $ 60 million from companies like General Electric.
The problem for everyone? The extreme variability from person to person
A technique called Raman spectroscopy provides some promise. A team of researchers from the University of Missouri and MIT discovered that a laser, through a fiber optic cable, could be used to measure blood sugar when pressed against the wrist. At the time, researchers said the system could offer readings comparable to a finger-prick test.
There's still a long way to go before we see this type of technology in a working (and affordable) product and buy it. But if Quantum can demonstrate that it has avoided known pitfalls with this new detector, and its technology is accurate enough, this could be a nice game-changer.
Il CES2021 it's all virtual due to Covid. This is why it is even more difficult to verify the statements of the various companies. De visu, many would have tested the device to measure blood sugar without needles and we would know more. It is also worth noting that there is still no peer-reviewed or otherwise externally validated science to support this specific technology and its application.
