Apple Watch Set to Include Third-Party Glucose Tracking App at Launch

MacRumors · Feb 9, 2015

Medical device manufacturer DexCom over the weekend announced the company is developing an app for the upcoming Apple Watch that will display all of a user's glucose and blood sugar-related health data on their wrist (via The Wall Street Journal).

The company, whose expertise lies in "continuous glucose monitoring systems for diabetes management," says the app is expected to be ready when the Apple Watch launches in April. The app would sync to existing monitors manufactured by DexCom that use a "hair's width sensor" located under the user's skin to measure and report blood glucose levels every five minutes, a more seamless process than traditional skin-prick glucose monitors, according to the company.

Though most health-related apps have been closely scrutinized by the FDA in the past, The Wall Street Journal reports DexCom and a group of developers behind another diabetes-related application called NightScout have convinced the FDA to change course on health apps.

The group's effort challenged the slow pace of innovation and regulatory approval in the field. It also highlighted the growing role that Silicon Valley companies and software developers hope to have in monitoring and maintaining people's health.

Previously, the FDA considered glucose monitors and any associated software to be Class III medical devices, meaning they received the highest level of regulatory scrutiny. But the spread of NightScout, the system developed by the group of software engineers, and DexCom's submission of a separate iPhone app for review prompted the FDA to change course last month.

Subsequently, DexCom's monitors that require injection under a patient's skin will understandably remain Class III devices but the software that displays the data - such as the Apple Watch app - now only needs to be registered with the FDA without prior marketing approval. Alberto Gutierrez, director of the FDA's Office of In Vitro Diagnostics and Radiological Health, evoked the positive benefits of the app far outweigh any negatives, "We felt that the risks that the app imposed weren't as high."

Apple itself has been steadily moving towards a more health-concerned future, with the introduction of the Health app into iOS 8 as a preparation for the upcoming built-in fitness integration features of the Apple Watch. Major U.S. hospitals are rolling out their own trial programs with HealthKit, Apple's tools that leverage the iPhone's various motion-tracking sensors and peripheral accessories to track and log the history of a user's health data.

Article Link: Apple Watch Set to Include Third-Party Glucose Tracking App at Launch

KdParker · Feb 9, 2015

Would love to see this working accurately enough to be used to monitor Glucose levels.

Guess we will have to wait and see.

snebes · Feb 9, 2015

KdParker said:
Would love to see this working accurately enough to be used to monitor Glucose levels.

Guess we will have to wait and see.

Sadly, this is only tracking software. My meter does this already, and my doctor downloads the data from it. I don't see this changing anytime soon, considering medical devices have soooooo much regulation.

wylde06 · Feb 9, 2015

mikemj23 · Feb 9, 2015

This is fantastic news for T1's out there like myself. I will buy an Apple Watch just for this functionality.

pbush25 · Feb 9, 2015

mikemj23 said:
This is fantastic news for T1's out there like myself. I will buy an Apple Watch just for this functionality.

Just to clarify, this is to be used in conjunction with the existing Dexcom system. Unfortunately, still having to carry the receiver around to beam the data to my phone and then my watch seems redundant to me. I would love to see it so that I could just wear my transmitter and then have it transmit directly to my phone, but this will not be the case.

Also, if you already have a Dexcom system, this will require purchasing a new system that has their Share feature built in.

I would rather just wait for another generation of the Apple Watch that has the functionality built in directly.

jadot · Feb 9, 2015

Interesting to see these elements of the AWatch and HealthKit move forward.

I'm wasn't personally thinking of getting the watch, but third party apps synchronising with the watch and through HealthKit are starting to sound more and more useful in a linked up kind of way.

I know diabetes users who will love the sound of this, although doubt that we'll see it in the UK any time soon.

I would also love to see Fitbug's "Kiqplan" tie in to health kit in some way. Anyone know if this is on the cards?

mikemj23 · Feb 9, 2015

KdParker said:
Would love to see this working accurately enough to be used to monitor Glucose levels.

Guess we will have to wait and see.

Just to be clear . . .

This is NOT the watch itself monitoring your blood glucose level. The Dexcom G4 is a sensor embedded under the skin that transmits your blood glucose reading to a small receiver (looks like a pager) every 5 mins. The integration with the Apple Watch is simply the capability of the sensor transmitting the glucose reading to the watch independent of the receiver. So you can glance at your Apple Watch to see your BG level instead of having to carry another electronic device with you.

May not seem like a huge deal, but for T1's who wear the G4 and soon the G5, it will be a really nice function of the Apple Watch.

----------

pbush25 said:
Just to clarify, this is to be used in conjunction with the existing Dexcom system. Unfortunately, still having to carry the receiver around to beam the data to my phone and then my watch seems redundant to me. I would love to see it so that I could just wear my transmitter and then have it transmit directly to my phone, but this will not be the case.

Also, if you already have a Dexcom system, this will require purchasing a new system that has their Share feature built in.

I would rather just wait for another generation of the Apple Watch that has the functionality built in directly.

I understand as I use the G4. The G5 will have bluetooth built into the sensor which will transmit to the iPhone/Apple Watch. This eliminates the need for the receiver.

AppleScruff1 · Feb 9, 2015

Where do you get the sensor implanted under your skin? At the Apple store?

mikemj23 · Feb 9, 2015

snebes said:
Sadly, this is only tracking software. My meter does this already, and my doctor downloads the data from it. I don't see this changing anytime soon, considering medical devices have soooooo much regulation.

The Dexcom system is not just tracking software. It's a Continuous Glucose Monitor (CGM) via a sensor the user implants under the skin that reads your BG every 5 min.

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AppleScruff1 said:
Where do you get the sensor implanted under your skin? At the Apple store?

No LOL - the user implants the sensor. FDA says to change it every 7 days but I typically get 20+ days out of mine. The Apple Watch and the Dexcom system are mutually exclusive. What is being integrated is the option for the transmitter to send the data now to other devices (i.e. Apple Watch, Android phones etc) and not just the receiver we all have currently to see the data.

mrgraff · Feb 9, 2015

AppleScruff1 said:
Where do you get the sensor implanted under your skin? At the Apple store?

That's where I got my Apple Pay barcode tattoo.

AppleScruff1 · Feb 9, 2015

mikemj23 said:
No LOL - the user implants the sensor. FDA says to change it every 7 days but I typically get 20+ days out of mine. The Apple Watch and the Dexcom system are mutually exclusive. What is being integrated is the option for the transmitter to send the data now to other devices (i.e. Apple Watch, Android phones etc) and not just the receiver we all have currently to see the data.

All joking aside, how do you insert the sensor under your skin?

mikemj23 · Feb 9, 2015

AppleScruff1 said:
All joking aside, how do you insert the sensor under your skin?

No worries and I laugh about this stuff all the time. Type 1 (Juvenile Diabetes) is pain in the ass but there are a lot of other folks a lot worse off than me.

There is an insertion device that comes with each sensor. Basically the sensor is wrapped around a needle which is inserted under the skin and then the needle is removed just leaving the sensor embedded. Very cool stuff and useful BG trending information for us.

AppleScruff1 · Feb 9, 2015

mikemj23 said:
No worries and I laugh about this stuff all the time. Type 1 (Juvenile Diabetes) is pain in the ass but there are a lot of other folks a lot worse off than me.

There is an insertion device that comes with each sensor. Basically the sensor is wrapped around a needle which is inserted under the skin and then the needle is removed just leaving the sensor embedded. Very cool stuff and useful BG trending information for us.

I'm Type 2. Is it easy to insert the sensor and does it hurt much? Are you aware that it is there?

iSee · Feb 9, 2015

I was shocked until I read the story.

The Apple Watch will NOT "include" a third-party app. That would be amazing. It's just that the app developer is planning on making it available at launch. That's good news for people who need an app like this, but otherwise is not that exciting.

NightCastle · Feb 9, 2015

I hope this opens the door for other CGM systems (read as other manufaturers) to create comparable apps. It would be nice if it were a two-way commmunication system that allowed control of the pump to which the CGM is typically communicating. That way if the pump is under a coat while you are strapped in with a seatbelt and driving, you can easily dismiss a high-BG notification via the watch, instead of being annoyed until you can get to a place to stop or hit a stop-light.

Chupa Chupa · Feb 9, 2015

The title of this article is confusing. It does not seem to be that the App and everything needed to make it function is bundled with the watch, same way Photos app is with the iPhone. Rather, the app will be among the launch apps. There is a difference there.

MH01 · Feb 9, 2015

AppleScruff1 said:
Where do you get the sensor implanted under your skin? At the Apple store?

Applecare plus +

Oflife · Feb 9, 2015

Over £1000 of gear required

Yet, all Apple had to do was use proven reliable industry standards built into every iPhone, including the 1/2G, and all Android and MS handsets, namely Bluetooth and WiFi, and built a blood glucose meter into the actual rear of the Apple Watch, made the Watch sync with ALL mobile phones (not just iPhone 5 and onwards), and people could spend half as much money.

But they had to garden wall the Apple Watch to squeeze money out of people.

urbanslaughter1997 · Feb 9, 2015

pbush25 said:
Just to clarify, this is to be used in conjunction with the existing Dexcom system. Unfortunately, still having to carry the receiver around to beam the data to my phone and then my watch seems redundant to me. I would love to see it so that I could just wear my transmitter and then have it transmit directly to my phone, but this will not be the case.

Also, if you already have a Dexcom system, this will require purchasing a new system that has their Share feature built in.

I would rather just wait for another generation of the Apple Watch that has the functionality built in directly.

Wait, really? I understood this would replace the receiver. I liked this idea because I hate my CGM, but it's the only one that communicates with my pump. If I could use a different glucose monitor without having to carry around an additional receiver (other than an apple watch) I'd be ALL in. If that's not the case, how do you know this?

mikemj23 · Feb 9, 2015

AppleScruff1 said:
I'm Type 2. Is it easy to insert the sensor and does it hurt much? Are you aware that it is there?

Easy to insert - yes. Sometimes it can be a bit painful, but nothing crazy. Once inserted I don't feel it at all.

Vulkan · Feb 9, 2015

The OP is misleading...

"The app would sync to existing monitors manufactured by DexCom that use a "hair's width sensor" located under the user's skin to measure"

He should have written "a sensor under the user's skin that is thin as a hair"

Otherwise, the article reads like the Apple Watch uses a width to measure a hair for the glucose levels.

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mikemj23 said:
Easy to insert - yes. Sometimes it can be a bit painful, but nothing crazy. Once inserted I don't feel it at all.

Can you post a picture of how it looks in your arm? I am kind of curious myself.

urbanslaughter1997 · Feb 9, 2015

mikemj23 said:
Just to be clear . . .

This is NOT the watch itself monitoring your blood glucose level. The Dexcom G4 is a sensor embedded under the skin that transmits your blood glucose reading to a small receiver (looks like a pager) every 5 mins. The integration with the Apple Watch is simply the capability of the sensor transmitting the glucose reading to the watch independent of the receiver. So you can glance at your Apple Watch to see your BG level instead of having to carry another electronic device with you.

May not seem like a huge deal, but for T1's who wear the G4 and soon the G5, it will be a really nice function of the Apple Watch.

----------

I understand as I use the G4. The G5 will have bluetooth built into the sensor which will transmit to the iPhone/Apple Watch. This eliminates the need for the receiver.

This is really awesome. as a T1 I will definitely love this because it means I can use a different CGM without carrying around another device (other than an apple watch) to receive the transmitted glucose data. I'm IN!

mikemj23 · Feb 9, 2015

Oflife said:
Yet, all Apple had to do was use proven reliable industry standards built into every iPhone, including the 1/2G, and all Android and MS handsets, namely Bluetooth and WiFi, and built a blood glucose meter into the actual rear of the Apple Watch, made the Watch sync with ALL mobile phones (not just iPhone 5 and onwards), and people could spend half as much money.

But they had to garden wall the Apple Watch to squeeze money out of people.

Wait, let's not bash Apple here. Apple would have to go through the FDA to "build in" an actual glucose sensor. That is not what this is. Two separate product categories entirely.

fastlanephil · Feb 9, 2015

Technology like this is going to disrupt the medical system that has been in place since the advent of "Modern"Medicine".

You'll be wearing your doctor on your wrist, connected to all your body devices.

Doctor Siri?

Apple Watch Set to Include Third-Party Glucose Tracking App at Launch

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