We’ve been talking for a long time about the possibility of an Apple Watch capable of taking blood sugar readings. A system which, because of both its implications and its need to be non-intrusive, it takes longer to develop than expected.
A feature that will arrive, but is still in development
Rumors about this important feature have been around for a long time, probably since the days of the first Apple Watch. Back then These were more speculations than real rumours.but about a year ago those rumors were gaining much more force.
We were in February 2021 and the rumor was devoted, among other things, to the Apple Watch Series 7. There was talk of important changes in this version, design changes, which later did not take place, accompanied by a brand new array of sensors. Sources like Mark Gurman have talked about the possibility of smart wristbands and even the Wall Street Journal told us about Apple’s own medical center.
Now, with the Apple Watch Series 8 and Apple Watch Ultra already among us and the leaks of a certain Apple Watch Series X, the blood sugar testing rumors have changed in intensity. In this regard, there was a turning point: a patent. Apple patented a system that, using electromagnetic waves, could calculate the amount of glucose in the blood. At the time, we said it like this:
“In view of these limitations, Apple offers a system for emitting electromagnetic radiation at the terahertz (THz) frequency. This system emits a beam in the direction of an object and collects the reading. In this reading, the absorption aspect of the object is collected. This data, when fed to a carefully trained machine learning engine, is able to infer the amount of sugar in the blood.”
“Regarding the radiation, the patent details that it is not ionizing due to its very low energy and can only generate a thermal effect very similar to what is already happening with current phones. A guarantee important in which, for everything else, it’s a fairly new technology and yet to be explored.”
A technology that, without a doubt, looks very attractive. Usually a patent requires some features in order to be registered. A 100% working prototype is also not necessary, but it does not appear from the text of the document that Apple was patenting an idea.
Apple continues to ramp up medical hiring.
Now we’re in a similar situation to 2021. Gurman said long ago that “breakthrough” sensors for the Apple Watch are still years away, bringing us closer to this fall or next year. As far as we know, however, there hasn’t been too much visible progress. What we do know is that Apple concentrates a lot of resources
If we have seen the arrival of functions as specific as the ECG, with impressive precision, it must be added, it is only a matter of time before we see new features. In this sense, we must remember how much hiring in the medical field has accelerated, both in hardware and software.
Given what has been seen, with the perspective that time gives, it seems that we will have to wait a little longer to see the blood sugar measurement on the Apple Watch. It is also true that, since it is a measurement that could well be carried out without too specialized equipment, we could see the announcement almost by surprise, but, as we have already said, it seems that There are still a few generations of Apple Watch to go.
