Samsung Racing to Beat Apple to Non-Invasive Blood Glucose Monitoring Technology

[MacRumors]

Samsung is striving to beat Apple to launch non-invasive blood glucose monitoring technology, as well as continuous blood pressure tracking features, Bloomberg reports.

The efforts are part of the company's wider push to offer more health capabilities, embodied by the recent announcement of the Galaxy Ring, which touts activity and sleep tracking, with more health features set to arrive later. In a new interview, Samsung's mobile digital health chief Hon Pak said:

If we can do continuous blood pressure and glucose, we're in a whole different ballgame. I think that's where everyone is trying to get to. We're putting significant investment toward that.

[...]

We are looking at everything from miniaturization to the various different technology platforms that can do some type of glucose monitoring or anything in between.

Pak declined to comment on a time frame for launching either of the features in specific Samsung devices, but believes that non-invasive glucose monitoring technology could come to market in some form within five years. Current blood glucose monitoring systems usually requires pricking the skin, but Apple has reportedly been working on a unique non-invasive approach for over a decade. The company is believed to have made major progress with the technology, increasing pressure on rivals to provide competing features.

While Samsung smartwatches already offer the ability to determine a user's blood pressure, the capability is not constant and requires specific calibration with a separate blood pressure monitor. Apple is purportedly planning to add hypertension detection to the Apple Watch later this year with no calibration requirement, but it will not provide exact readings, instead simply informing users that they may have elevated blood pressure.

Like Apple, Samsung is also reportedly exploring adding health sensors to future versions of its earbuds, such as body temperature and heart rate monitoring, since the ear is a closer pathway to the heart than the wrist. Health information from the ear could be combined with data already collected from the wrist for even greater accuracy.

Article Link: Samsung Racing to Beat Apple to Non-Invasive Blood Glucose Monitoring Technology

 

[sniffies]

Take your time, Apple.

We prefer quality rather than Samsung's WE DID IT FIRST.

 

[Rychiar]

Well can’t beat Samsung when it comes to getting things to market in months that’s for sure.

 

[KPOM]

Competition is a good thing that keeps both companies working to make their products better.

 

[moabal]

Non-invasive glucose monitoring is the holy grail. If Apple can figure it out, everyone will get an Apple Watch.

 

[Godspeed8230]

I wonder how you can measure blood glucose without any form of pricking the skin. What are the mechanics behind it?

 

[Schiappablanca]

Non-invasive glucose monitoring is the holy grail. If Apple can figure it out, everyone will get an Apple Watch.

An Apple Watch AND an iPhone for those without.

 

[Jankie]

I wonder how you can measure blood glucose without any form of pricking the skin. What are the mechanics behind it?

Article discusses numerous methods being used/tested to non-invasively test blood glucose. Mentions Apple and Samsung later in the article.

 

[neuropsychguy]

I wonder how you can measure blood glucose without any form of pricking the skin. What are the mechanics behind it?

There are other methods but this is who Apple has been partnering with:

https://www.fastcompany.com/90730050/apple-partner-rockley-photonics-blood-sugar

"Current wearable glucose monitors detect glucose levels through the body fluid that runs between cells. It requires injecting a piece of filament into your arm through a needle, a process that’s not painful so much as it is jarring (especially for anyone with a fear of needles). Everyone agrees that being able to slap a smartwatch on your wrist to track glucose would be a far better experience, but it has been difficult to miniaturize the necessary technology.

"Rockley has figured out a way to make the necessary sensors small enough to fit on a wrist and developed machine learning to better understand a person’s glucose reading. It built a chip-based spectrophotometer, which means it can use a variety of light sources to measure biometrics through skin. The company then uses artificial intelligence to understand what those sugar levels mean within the context of an individual to answer whether their sugar is too high, too low, or average."

 

[MuppetGate]

Take your time, Apple.

We prefer quality rather than Samsung's WE DID IT FIRST.

If I remember, Samsung had a smart watch before Apple released the Apple Watch, so yes, being first to market doesn’t mean anything.

Yet another Bloomberg article attempting to shift share prices.

 

[lenningj]

Get those patents in Apple!

 

[Jack Burton]

I would get a device from whoever figures this out. This is the kind of tech race we need.

I wonder if Abbot and Dexcom, two behemoth medical device makers and current manufacturers of the most popular CGM devices, are working on their own concept knowing that Apple and Samsung are rushing to disrupt their market.

 

[PsykX]

Competition is great ❤️

I don't care who does it first, I don't think I need this feature myself, but I know for sure it'll be a good thing for mankind.

 

[danielchow]

Sigh.

Such features have their uses when needed, but I think it is not a good idea for most people to persistently monitor and to “doctor” themselves. We are setting up ourselves to become like Felix Unger from The Odd Couple. One Felix Unger was enough and funny, but millions or billions of them could be a healthcare mess.

I think companies should promote devices that encourages users to meditate, be still, or be mindful. These activities could alleviate or fix many of the chronic ailments that burden us today.

 

[jicon]

I wonder how you can measure blood glucose without any form of pricking the skin.

I've yet to see anything consistently work with extreme accuracy without actual blood. The current ones that do not use blood glucose, but interstitial fluid like the 14 or 10.5 day Libre and Dexcom sensors have results that can be outright incorrect and require calibration from time to time. Compression, temperature, age of sensor, interaction of other drugs can affect readings.

When/if this comes, presuming it'll be something manually initiated on the device telling you your blood sugar appears elevated for a prolonged period. And, maybe that's good enough?

Finding that spot when someone exhibits prediabetic, type 2, 2.5, 3c or type 1 symptoms beyond your general thirstiness, frequent urination, weight loss could be a positive, but once diagnosed, its likely going to be far too inaccurate of a tool to use frequently per hour.

 

[Timo_Existencia]

I love that we never get the sense that Apple is racing to beat another company at anything.

I thought Meta looked silly trying to get their announcement out about the new Quest a couple of days prior to Apple announcing the Vision Pro.

Being first isn't what matters in Apple DNA.

 

[repoman016]

Sigh.

Such features have their uses when needed, but I think it is not a good idea for most people to persistently monitor and to “doctor” themselves. We are setting up ourselves to become like Felix Unger from the Odd Couple. One Felix Unger was enough and funny, but millions or billions of them could be a healthcare mess.

I think companies should promote devices that encourages users to meditate, be still, or be mindful. These activities could alleviate or fix many of the chronic ailments that haunt and taunt us today.

The apple watch already does this with Breath

 

[one more]

I wonder how you can measure blood glucose without any form of pricking the skin. What are the mechanics behind it?

There are several approaches, including flushing some form of light through thin layers of skin, etc., but it is still not quite there, despite trying to get it right since 1975 (!):

Noninvasive glucose monitor - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org

 

[jz0309]

While Samsung smartwatches already offer the ability to determine a user's blood pressure, the capability is not constant and requires specific calibration with a separate blood pressure monitor.

yea, got introduced in the 2022 model, and removed again in the 2023 model - makes you wonder

I dol ike competition ...

The technology (blood pressure, glucose monitoring ..) is getting there, but implementation got to be in a meaningful ways for those who are impacted ...

 

[Catasstrophy]

Sigh.

Such features have their uses when needed, but I think it is not a good idea for most people to persistently monitor and to “doctor” themselves. We are setting up ourselves to become like Felix Unger from The Odd Couple. One Felix Unger was enough and funny, but millions or billions of them could be a healthcare mess.

I think companies should promote devices that encourages users to meditate, be still, or be mindful. These activities could alleviate or fix many of the chronic ailments that burden us today.

Companies literally do this, right now. Samsung and Apple both had it as headlining features in the last year or so. Unfortunately meditation and mindfulness doesn't make my body less insulin resistant.

 

[Unggoy Murderer]

Apple's aim hasn't been first to market for a while now. They prefer first to mind.

Samsung would rather rush and release something half-baked... nobody really wins there.

 

[Rychiar]

I love that we never get the sense that Apple is racing to beat another company at anything.

I thought Meta looked silly trying to get their announcement out about the new Quest a couple of days prior to Apple announcing the Vision Pro.

Being first isn't what matters in Apple DNA.

what announcement? the quest 3 has been out. though I'm sure they pushed it especially fast as it does a lot of the AR stuff the AVP does on a lower level.

 

[LlamaLarry]

Considering I can't get this done in a medical setting today I find it difficult to believe that it will come to a consumer device first.

 

[Timo_Existencia]

what announcement? the quest 3 has been out. though I'm sure they pushed it especially fast as it does a lot of the AR stuff the AVP does on a lower level.

the Quest 3 was announced 4 days prior to the AVP reveal.

 

[magicschoolbus]

I’d imagine Samsung would beat Apple to market. Samsung has a large presence in health which would give them a big leg up.