Glucose Watch



Avoid painful finger pricks!  The Glucose Watch is a medical device that allows you to track your blood sugar without having to draw blood.  Learn a few important things you need to consider before getting one.  Painless Blood-Free Glucose Monitoring with the K’Watch 

Avoid painful skin pricks with the glucose watch!  Sound too good to be true?  It may be.  

Take for example the case of the GlucoWatch  which  was first approved by the FDA in 2001 and which dropped off the market about 10 years later after being found to be inaccurate and to have too many false alarms by Stanford University School of Medicine and the University College of London.  

However, with the widespread of diabetics among almost all age range of people around, medical equipment manufacturers are introducing varieties of new products every day. 

New glucose monitoring watches are either available or in production from:

• PKVitality – K’Tack Glucose Watch 

• Dexcom G5 on Apple Watch

• IndieGoGo – Infrav.  

More about them below.  

First let’s look at some of the basic benefits a Glucose Watch could provide.

Potential Benefits of a Glucose Watch

• Non-invasive, regular, constant and/or instant blood glucose reading, 

• An alarm to alert you when your blood sugar is too high or low, 

• The ability to store and review previous readings history

• Portable size

The technology behind glucose watches

There are a couple approaches in the works.  One innovative new brand of medical wrist watches feature ‘Reverse Iontophoresis’ technology and collect blood glucose samples from body fluids by using an electric current flowing throughout the sensors. The readings are shown on the watch display and the buttons that are required for operating this device are placed at the edge of the device.

Another depends on tiny microneedles that “painlessly” penetrate the top layer of skin and analyze interstitial fluid.  This is the same fluid that other continuous glucose monitoring equipment using, meaning it is a proven method.  However, the concept is that this information would be sent to a watch that the person wears rather than a hand held or implanted monitor.

Diabetics must monitor their blood glucose levels several times a day to determine how far above or below normal their glucose is and to determine how much insulin(s) they may need. 

This is usually done by placing a drop of blood from a skin prick onto a glucose strip and then inserting the strip into a glucose meter (a small machine that provides a digital readout of the blood glucose level). However, with a glucose watch, diabetics can conveniently check their blood sugar levels anywhere, without the need for glucose strips or painful skin pricking.  

The Blood Glucose Watch Concept

A glucose watch would be a wearable tracker that measures your blood glucose effortlessly, painlessly and in seconds.  The watch would allow diabetics to self-monitor their glucose levels without the need for cumbersome and painful blood-based tests. 

Ideally, a glucose watch would require no calibration, you could just press a button and see what your current glucose levels are.  This could be a huge thing for children and teens who do not like to have to draw blood and often won’t test as often as they should.  

It could also alert parents and caregivers if someone else’s blood sugar was out of whack. 

Another Lifesaving Feature

Apart from the fact that a watch is easy to use and portable, there are some other features to consider that can save lives. A watch with an alarm notification system to alert the wearer and /or other family members or caretakers is huge. 

With a prompt notification, the watch would save you from complication like excessive sweating, fatigue, and blurred vision.  Or worse.  Like an alert caretaker, or a watchful parent, the watch could notify the patient to take action to correct their glucose balance before complications set in. 

The alarm would protect you whether or not you were distracted, tired, not feeling well or having trouble thinking. In simpler terms, just an alerting feature alone couple save your life. 

The good news is there is one watch on the market that already has this alert feature that we really like!

The Diabetes Sentry is an affordable, life-changing device for the detection of nocturnal hypoglycemia symptoms, no needles required! Our truly innovative device is worn like a wristwatch and provides monitoring for two of the most common symptoms of hypoglycemia, an increase in perspiration and/or a decrease in skin temperature. When symptoms are detected, the device sounds a loud audible alarm, loud enough to alert you even while asleep.

Diabetes Sentry Hypoglycemic-Symptom Alarm

Blood Glucose Watches That Are In Development Right Now

Several blood glucose watches are in development and either have an early version on the market (Dexcom/Apple Watch) or are expected to be available in the next year or so. 

• Dexcom G5 on Apple Watch

• PKVitality – K’Tack Glucose Watch

• IndieGoGo Infrav


The main issue is that the glucose watch concept is a little ahead of its time.  

For hypoglycemia alerting alone the Diabetes Sentry Hypoglycemic-Symptom Alarm discussed above is a great option.  

For constant measurement of blood sugar levels, the Apple Watch combined with the Dexcom sensor and Dexcom CGM receiver needs work since you are currently required to carry too many devices for the system to work.  Mainly you have to have the Dexcom receiver and an iPhone all in range with the the Apple Watch to receive readings and alerts. Also, a thin sensor has to be inserted under your skin.   

The K’Track Glucose watch is also ahead of its time as it is not expected to be available in the US until sometime in 2018 after it received regulatory approval.  

Probably the most interesting option is the Apple Watch primarily because Apple’s CEO recently (May 18, 2017) went public about test-driving a glucose monitor connected to his Apple Watch and CNBC reported in April 2017 that Apple has a team dedicated to the “holy grail” in diabetes: Non-invasive and continuous glucose monitoring.  All of this hinting at Apple’s interest in the space is likely to result in something better coming to the market sooner rather than later, but we don’t know if that will be from a Dexcom or a Medtronic collaboration or due to something Apple is developing in house. 

Conclusion

Wristwatch monitors would be one of the best kinds of monitors because could help you to monitor your blood sugar level continuously.  At the same time they could alert you if your blood sugar levels get too high. Both would minimize complication and could be life-saving!

For optimal health, you would always combine any sort of glucose monitor watch with other methods such as a proper diabetic diet and regular exercise. 

More Information


| | Glucose Watch

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