Blood pressure monitor has become a common feature of many of today’s smartwartches and mobile devices too. But none of these modern day devices feature a glucose monitor that can track a person’s blood sugar level.
Apparently, the Apple Watch will have such an app feature when it is officially launched in April, reports 9to5mac.
The Apple wearable will feature a DexCom glucose monitor especially made for diabetics so that they shall be able to see a continuous graph of their blood sugar levels.
Reports have it that it will come in the form of an app in the Apple Watch which would likely be built in to the wearable upon launch. The app will convert the data obtained by the glucose monitor into a simple graph which can be accessed anytime on the wearable.
Early availability
The special health feature of the Apple Watch became immediately possible because of the non-impediment of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The agency took a hands-off approach and allowed Apple to simply do its thing the best way it normally does.
While medical hardware still requires FDA approval before it can be sold, companion apps or software no longer needs prior approval. Developers simply need to inform the FDA that the app exists.
That simplified matters with Apple as it worked with DexCom to come up with an app for the Apple wearable.
In the case of conventional glucose monitors, diabetics normally prick their skin, usually the tip of their fingers, with a needle in order to draw a drop of blood and place it on a test strip.
Apart from being laborious and inconvenient, the test almost always generates only isolated readings and quite often inconclusive, thus requires another set of test for validation.
The DexCom monitor however uses a tiny sensor embedded just under the surface of the skin which takes blood readings every five minutes. The companion app reads the data and creates a graph on the Apple Watch.
Reports have it that more than half of the top hospitals in the US have already rolled out pilot programs using HealthKit to remotely monitor patients with chronic medical conditions including those suffering from diabetes.
Launching in April
While the Apple Watch has been announced as early as September last year during the launching of the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus, its delay was said to be due to the unavailability of key parts to enable mass production. With the issue on the component already settled, the Cupertino-based company is most likely already in the midst of mass production for the Apple Watch.
March became a likely possibility for the launching of the wearable device based also on a statement of an Apple executive made in December that the company will be unveiling the Apple Watch after the Chinese New Year or in Spring.
Tim Cook’s pronouncement of an April launching for the Apple Watch is well within Spring so the company was still consistent.