Skip to main content

Sensor breakthrough brings us closer to blood glucose monitoring on wearables

Blood glucose monitoring is touted to be the next big breakthrough for wearable devices like the Apple Watch. However, the hardware is yet to be seen on a commercially available, mass-market device. That might change soon.

A team from Georgia’s Kennesaw State University claims to have developed a noninvasive system of blood glucose level measurement, thanks to a device called GlucoCheck. It follows the same fundamental approach as the oxygen-level analysis sensor on smartwatches like the Apple Watch Series 8 and Samsung Galaxy Watch 5.

Maria Valero with Glucocheck
Professor Maria Valero leads the team behind GlucoCheck. Kennesaw State University

Team lead Maria Valero, an assistant professor at the institution’s College of Computing and Software Engineering (CCSE), notes that the device delivers 90% accuracy in analyzing glucose concentration in blood samples. The biosensor works in tandem with a phone application, but the team is already at work on integrating Amazon’s Alexa virtual assistant.

Recommended Videos

GlucoCheck shines light across the human skin, and then a camera captures the view from the other side. The goal is to study the varying level of light absorption by blood flowing in the vessels to determine the glucose concentration.

The Apple Watch Ultra's heart rate sensor active.
Andy Boxall / Digital Trends

The team has already filed a patent for the tech and now aims to test it on more body types to diversify the test data. This step is of critical importance, because commercially available wearables like those made by Fitbit and even Apple are known to be inaccurate at reading data from people with dark or tattoed skin types.

The latest development is remarkable because it achieves the holy grail of glucose-level monitoring, which is to develop a noninvasive method that can be miniaturized and connected to devices such as phones. Currently, people with diabetes need to prick their fingers to obtain a blood sample to analyze their sugar levels.

Commercial players are also at it

This is not the first research of its kind. In July 2020, Samsung showcased a noninvasive method for blood glucose monitoring in partnership with experts from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). The same year, Movano revealed a wearable device that can measure blood sugar levels using a light diffusion method. But it didn’t do much else.

A year later, a Japanese company named Quantum Operation showcased a wearable-mounted sensor at CES 2021 that was capable of noninvasive blood glucose analysis. According to multiple reports that have surfaced over the past couple of years, both Apple and Samsung are interested in the promising tech for their smartwatches.

Quantum Operation Non-Invasive Blood Glucometer

U.K.-based Rockley Photonics is also working toward the same objective, but instead of LEDs, the company is focused more on laser-based analysis. Regarding the in-house tech, CEO Dr. Andrew Rickman told Digital Trends that it “collects incredibly rich data that we extract to measure, amongst other things, hydration, lactate, and blood pressure.”

Notably, Apple is said to be one of the biggest clients of Rockley Photonics and is rumored to include the noninvasive blood glucose monitoring tech on the Apple Watch portfolio in the near future.

Nadeem Sarwar
Nadeem is a tech journalist who started reading about cool smartphone tech out of curiosity and soon started writing…
The hidden benefit of wearing smart rings
A person holding the RingConn Smart Ring and Oura Ring.

The temptation to upgrade any piece of mobile technology annually is always there, as new versions and updates are introduced regularly. It’s always great to have the latest model, but it's expensive, slightly wasteful, and becoming more unnecessary all the time to change regularly. You're a lot stronger than I am if you can resist the siren call.

What is there to do? If you want to get off the expensive tech upgrade train, you need to buy a product that will last and take years to be genuinely superseded. What you need is a smart ring, as I think it’s the most consumer-friendly piece of wearable tech we’ve seen yet. It's not an immediately obvious thing, but here's why I think it's absolutely true.
A consumer-friendly wearable
Oura Ring 4 Andy Boxall / Digital Trends

Read more
There’s new evidence that Samsung is making a Galaxy S25 Slim
A person holding the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra.

Could the next big smartphone war be about who can make the thinnest device? Increasingly, it's looking that way.

Industry reports suggest Samsung is working on an ultrathin version of its upcoming Galaxy S25 flagship that could launch in 2025. The rumored timing would put it just months ahead of Apple's long-rumored "iPhone 17 Slim,” expected later that same year.

Read more
A new Google Pixel feature could make managing phone calls a breeze
The Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold, Pixel 9 Pro, and Pixel 9 screens.

Contextual replies are one of the best parts of the Google Pixel experience. This feature allows you to respond to a call without actually answering it; the Google Assistant voice asks why they're calling and allows you to answer with generated responses for specific keywords. For example, if someone is calling to confirm an appointment, you can reply with "Confirm."

It's a great feature, especially if you aren't fond of talking on the phone. Now an update to contextual replies could take the feature to the next level with AI responses. The team at 9to5Google found snippets of code in the latest beta version of the Phone by Google app that suggest a wider range of capabilities is on the way.

Read more