Diabetics will love the new Samsung Galaxy Watch 4 and Apple Watch 7

After achieving ECG and Blood Pressure monitoring, ETNews reports Samsung is getting ready to take the next great leap into non-invasive health monitoring – Blood Glucose.

According to their report the next Samsung Galaxy Watch, either the Samsung Galaxy Watch 4 or Samsung Galaxy Watch Active3, will feature non-invasive monitoring of blood glucose levels, relieving diabetics of the need to prick their finger several times per day.

Technology

The company has worked with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) on measuring blood glucose levels with Raman spectroscopy and have jointly published a paper in the January 2020 edition of the international journal ‘Science Advance’ titled ‘Direct observation of glucose fingerprint using in vivo Raman spectroscopy.‘

Raman spectroscopy uses the scattering of laser light to measure the chemical composition of a substance, in this case, how much glucose is in your blood. It is a validated technique with high accuracy.

ETNews reports Apple will be introducing the same technology in the Apple Watch 7.

Several other companies are exploring the area, including Philosys Healthcare in Korea and Japanese startup Quantum Operation who showed off a prototype at CES 2021.

More than diabetics

The technology has application beyond diabetics (who are unable to produce enough insulin to control their blood glucose levels), with those who simply want to promote a healthy lifestyle or engaging in intermittent fasting also likely to benefit.

The big hiccup is certification by health device authorities such as the US FDA in each region, with this issue holding up the roll-out off Samsung’s ECG monitoring feature in many regions.