After making a mark in the smartphone and laptop segment, Apple is reportedly foraying into the medical field. According to reports, the Cupertino-based company is currently monitoring diabetic patients using Glucose based sensors secretly. As part of the project, the iPhone manufacturer has established a partnership with a group of biomedical researchers.
Based on the available information, Apple is working on the project for five years in closed doors. The project has reached a stage where the product team is in a position to conduct feasibility trials. To bypass the complicated regulatory restrictions, the Tim Cook-owned company has hired consultants to deal with the matter.
Rumored to be headed by Johny Srouji who is the company’s senior vice president of hardware technologies, the product team consists of 30 researchers and scientists. Apple has hired a group of people from the biomedical sector including engineers from companies such as ZONARE, Vital Connect, Sano, and Medtronic.
Nowadays, technology companies have been investing heavily in the Diabetes related products to provide adequate relief to patients. According to estimates, nearly 400 million people have been affected by the disease across the world.
For example, Vita makes use of IoT to identify and cure patients with type 2 diabetes using remote monitoring tools. Livongo Health has raised $53 million to design and develop blood sugar monitoring product. The current practice to measure blood glucose level is to inject the body to obtain a blood sample. However, with the evolution of new products by Apple, you will be able to fetch blood sample without any pain.
There are reports that Apple is currently developing optical sensors, which will pass a beam of light deep onto the skin to measure glucose. We can expect a new technology will help patients to measure blood glucose levels without any pain in the upcoming future.
Meanwhile, Verily (Part of Alphabet) has also developed a smart contact lens to measure blood glucose levels through the eyes. However, the project is not doing well. Apple Founder Steve Jobs always believed that there will be a day where we can spot the intersection of technology and biology.