Sources told Bloomberg that Apple is working on a non-invasive glucose test for diabetics using a new sensor in its Apple Watch.. The history of the project began in 2010, when the company acquired RareLight, a startup specializing in non-invasive blood glucose monitoring. Apple founder Steve Jobs led the project until his death in 2011.

While it may be years away, Apple is working on technology to measure glucose levels in diabetics and alert those who are pre-diabetic. The technology uses a silicon photonic chip coupled with absorption spectroscopy, which measures reflected light to estimate blood sugar levels..

The Apple Watch is becoming an increasingly important health monitoring tool. With features like a heart rate monitor, fitness tracker, body temperature sensors, and women’s health tracking, Apple is now working to make glucose testing one of its many options.

While it hasn’t been peer-reviewed yet, sources tell Bloomberg that Apple’s latest attempt to calculate glucose levels is in the proof-of-concept stage. However, the current technology is too large to be used on a device like the Apple Watch and will need to be scaled down.

Technology will be critical to the United States

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, approximately one in 10 Americans is diagnosed with diabetes in the United States. Currently, these patients monitor their health with finger pricks or skin patches made by companies such as Dexcom and Abbott Laboratories.

Apple’s push to provide this data through the device could offer a more convenient alternative for the more than 37 million Americans with diabetes. However, it is important that the company’s data be independently evaluated before the technology is made available to the public.

According to Bob Messerschmidt, founder of RareLight, Apple’s purchase of the startup over a decade ago was critical to bringing non-invasive glucose monitoring technology to the Apple Watch. He talked about Steve Jobs’ vision of bringing technology and healthcare together.

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Source: Bloomberg.

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