Apple's Health VP Talks Glucose Monitoring on Apple Watch Amid Rumors of Noninvasive Tracking Breakthrough

[MacRumors]

Apple's vice president of health Sumbul Desai today spoke with Indian publication Businessline, where she talked about Apple's health initiatives and gave a tiny bit of insight into Apple's thoughts on glucose monitoring for the Apple Watch.

When asked if Apple would bring blood sugar tracking sensors to the Apple Watch, Desai said that these capabilities are "really important areas, but they require a lot of science behind them."

Her comments come just a few days after Bloomberg's Mark Gurman said that Apple has hit a milestone in its noninvasive blood glucose monitoring technology. Apple has been working on this functionality for at least a decade, and now has a "proof-of-concept" model that is viable.

Noninvasive blood glucose monitoring uses a laser to shine a light under the skin to determine the concentration of glucose in the body. Now that Apple has a functioning prototype, it needs to work to slim down the hardware to make it fit in a device the size of the Apple Watch. Gurman believes that Apple is still years away from being able to bring noninvasive blood glucose monitoring to the Apple Watch, but progress is being made.

Desai also said that she believes we are at the "beginning" of health tech, which will require changing the behavior of physicians and people. She said that Apple is focused on "the customer as the individual" and how the company can "empower an individual to be holistic about their health" by providing actionable insights.

Apple's health team is "laser-focused" on continuing to build in the health space, investing in research, collaboration with the medical community, and other avenues that will help it "understand your health sooner and earlier." Apple wants people to "feel like they’re empowered and educated to drive their own health care."

Other topics of conversation included Apple's view on health privacy, the cost of Apple devices, how decisions are made on what to work on, and more, with the full interview available at Businessline.

Article Link: Apple's Health VP Talks Glucose Monitoring on Apple Watch Amid Rumors of Noninvasive Tracking Breakthrough

 

[LoveToMacRumors]

Honestly, probably a feature in 5-10 years.

 

[one more]

When asked if Apple would bring blood sugar tracking sensors to the Apple Watch, Desai said that these capabilities are "really important areas, but they require a lot of science behind them."

This is as vague as it gets, LOL. It is like saying that swimming requires a lot of water. Fair enough, but nothing really new.

 

[surfzen21]

If I had to rely on it as a diabetic I certainly wouldn't want to use the first or first few generations.

But as someone who would like to know a close number for additional health monitoring I'm all for it.

Sounds like they are taking it more seriously than the temperature monitoring.

 

[TheYayAreaLiving 🎗️]

Bring it on. Should be on top priority. A truly life-changing feature for so many people that owns an ⌚ Apple Watch.

 

[ShivneelSingh]

AppleWatch 15 would have it.

 

[Mrkevinfinnerty]

"Yeah about that.. yeah we're not doing it."

 

[TheYayAreaLiving 🎗️]

If I had to rely on it as a diabetic I certainly wouldn't want to use the first or first few generations.

But as someone who would like to know a close number for additional health monitoring I'm all for it.

Sounds like they are taking it more seriously than the temperature monitoring.

The temperature monitoring feature needs its own stock app like blood oxygen or ECG or Heart rate. I hate the fact I have to rely on the Health app on my iPhone to obtain data. It's hidden and It's a headache! I bet so many people don't know their Apple Watch Series 8 and Ultra is capable of taking human temperatures.

 

[Apple_Robert]

Nothing really meaningful was stated by Desai.

 

[subjonas]

If I had to rely on it as a diabetic I certainly wouldn't want to use the first or first few generations.

But as someone who would like to know a close number for additional health monitoring I'm all for it.

Sounds like they are taking it more seriously than the temperature monitoring.

Yeah I’m thinking it will be introduced as a supplemental monitoring system, and hopefully eventually it will become good and trustworthy enough to take over as primary. Apple will make crazy money if they crack this and/or blood pressure monitoring.

 

[Kierkegaarden]

If I had to rely on it as a diabetic I certainly wouldn't want to use the first or first few generations.

The opposite — I would think a diabetic would want to use it immediately, and compare the results to their current testing methods each day. But wouldn’t you think Apple would be engaged in this testing for years prior to getting any approval for it?

 

[orbital~debris]

Will be interesting to read the full article, but that quote pulled out is classic Apple.
Essentially they're saying it's technology that will be coming to Watch, but don't want to pre-announce anything.

 

[Kierkegaarden]

The temperature monitoring feature needs its own stock app like blood oxygen or ECG or Heart rate. I hate the fact I have to rely on the Health app on my iPhone to obtain data. It's hidden and It's a headache! I bet so many people don't know their Apple Watch Series 8 and Ultra is capable of taking human temperatures.

Maybe the app just need a new UI — perhaps a grid layout with customization, or maybe icons can become widgets.

 

[darngooddesign]

When asked if Apple would bring blood sugar tracking sensors to the Apple Watch, Desai said that these capabilities are "really important areas, but they require a lot of science behind them."

This is as vague as it gets, LOL. It is like saying that swimming requires a lot of water. Fair enough, but nothing really new.

Apple showed a photo of AirPower and people still wont shut up about it. There is no way they are going to make concrete comments about these features.

 

[sorgo †]

“It is time for us to do what we have been doing. And that time is every day.”

 

[darngooddesign]

The temperature monitoring feature needs its own stock app like blood oxygen or ECG or Heart rate. I hate the fact I have to rely on the Health app on my iPhone to obtain data. It's hidden and It's a headache! I bet so many people don't know their Apple Watch Series 8 and Ultra is capable of taking human temperatures.

You can't just take your temperature like it's a thermometer right?

 

[sorgo †]

You can't just take your temperature like it's a thermometer right?

Nah only when you’re ovulating or something

 

[sorgo †]

In all seriousness, I stand strong in my belief that Apple’s main priority especially in the healthcare space should be protecting the privacy of customers’ data.

 

[surfzen21]

The temperature monitoring feature needs its own stock app like blood oxygen or ECG or Heart rate. I hate the fact I have to rely on the Health app on my iPhone to obtain data. It's hidden and It's a headache! I bet so many people don't know their Apple Watch Series 8 and Ultra is capable of taking human temperatures.

Completely agree! I'm hoping at some point it will be always accessible, like the other health features, and reliable.

I'd like to take my temp any moment and not get a general idea and a graph of how it differs from my baseline temp over night.

I will say there was a week where my temp was kind of erratic up and down and I definitely felt off for those days. Maybe not fever sick but definitely off. The temp tracking picked up on it a day before I started feeling it.

 

[surfzen21]

The opposite — I would think a diabetic would want to use it immediately, and compare the results to their current testing methods each day. But wouldn’t you think Apple would be engaged in this testing for years prior to getting any approval for it?

That's a good point. I should have clarified that using it as the only source of information would not be something I would want to do. But if it gets FDA approval then its probably legit and/or safe to rely on.

The heart senor is top notch for a wrist monitor and is almost spot on with a chest strap. There is a German guy who does extensive testing with all sorts of wearables and Apple Watch always winds up at the top with heart rate monitoring.

I've compared the blood oxygen to a finger pulse oximeter I have and its spot on also. The only observable differece I have noticed is the Apple Watch seems to be a few seconds behind.

And I dont have an EKG machine so I can't do that comparison 😉

 

[CarAnalogy]

Honestly that comment is not saying much. Sounds more like hedging than anything. Apparently this is an extremely hard problem. I would love to see it but I seriously doubt it will be on the next Watch.

 

[mongobongo]

The temperature monitoring feature needs its own stock app like blood oxygen or ECG or Heart rate. I hate the fact I have to rely on the Health app on my iPhone to obtain data. It's hidden and It's a headache! I bet so many people don't know their Apple Watch Series 8 and Ultra is capable of taking human temperatures.

Are you saying it can it actually take your temperature? With what level of accuracy? I thought it was only for female cycle tracking.

 

[iGeneo]

This is not trivial and the idea that Apple would release this without it being fully vetted is ridiculous. It would require FDA approval and would likely be vetted against other tried and true methods thousands of times.

When it ships, it will be accurate and FDA approved

 

[cdsapplefan]

Apple has a working viable prototype that is in the proof-of-concept stage. The engineers just need to make it smaller.

I say they need to hire back Jon Ive just for this project. He was obsessed with shrinking things down.

With all the NASA engineers why would it take 5-10 years for this to get shrunk down to watch size? Or maybe the hurdle is that shrinking it down that small would be super expensive and not be feasible for the regular consumer to buy?

 

[mongobongo]

This is not trivial and the idea that Apple would release this without it being fully vetted is ridiculous. It would require FDA approval and would likely be vetted against other tried and true methods thousands of times.

When it ships, it will be accurate and FDA approved

They released blood oxygen monitoring that was at times wildly inaccurate and lacked FDA approval.