Apple Watch Set to Include Third-Party Glucose Tracking App at Launch
Medical device manufacturer DexCom over the weekend announced the company is developing an app for the upcoming Apple Watch that will display all of a user's glucose and blood sugar-related health data on their wrist (via The Wall Street Journal).
The company, whose expertise lies in "continuous glucose monitoring systems for diabetes management," says the app is expected to be ready when the Apple Watch launches in April. The app would sync to existing monitors manufactured by DexCom that use a "hair's width sensor" located under the user's skin to measure and report blood glucose levels every five minutes, a more seamless process than traditional skin-prick glucose monitors, according to the company.
Though most health-related apps have been closely scrutinized by the FDA in the past, The Wall Street Journal reports DexCom and a group of developers behind another diabetes-related application called NightScout have convinced the FDA to change course on health apps.
The group’s effort challenged the slow pace of innovation and regulatory approval in the field. It also highlighted the growing role that Silicon Valley companies and software developers hope to have in monitoring and maintaining people’s health.
Previously, the FDA considered glucose monitors and any associated software to be Class III medical devices, meaning they received the highest level of regulatory scrutiny. But the spread of NightScout, the system developed by the group of software engineers, and DexCom’s submission of a separate iPhone app for review prompted the FDA to change course last month.
Subsequently, DexCom's monitors that require injection under a patient's skin will understandably remain Class III devices but the software that displays the data - such as the Apple Watch app - now only needs to be registered with the FDA without prior marketing approval. Alberto Gutierrez, director of the FDA’s Office of In Vitro Diagnostics and Radiological Health, evoked the positive benefits of the app far outweigh any negatives, “We felt that the risks that the app imposed weren’t as high."
Apple itself has been steadily moving towards a more health-concerned future, with the introduction of the Health app into iOS 8 as a preparation for the upcoming built-in fitness integration features of the Apple Watch. Major U.S. hospitals are rolling out their own trial programs with HealthKit, Apple's tools that leverage the iPhone's various motion-tracking sensors and peripheral accessories to track and log the history of a user's health data.
Popular Stories
The iPhone is Apple's top-selling product, and it gets an update every year. In 2024, we're expecting the iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Pro lineup, with an arguably more interesting feature set than we got with the iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Pro. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. Capture Button All four iPhone 16 models are set to get a whole new button, which will be...
Apple is widely expected to release new iPad Air and OLED iPad Pro models in the next few weeks. According to new rumors coming out of Asia, the company will announce its new iPads on Tuesday, March 26. Chinese leaker Instant Digital on Weibo this morning 日发布%23">claimed that the date will see some sort of announcement from Apple related to new iPads, but stopped short of calling it an...
Apple suppliers will begin production of two new fourth-generation AirPods models in May, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. Based on this production timeframe, he expects the headphones to be released in September or October. Gurman expects both fourth-generation AirPods models to feature a new design with better fit, improved sound quality, and an updated charging case with a USB-C...
Apple's new iPad Pro models with OLED displays will likely begin shipping to customers in April, according to information shared today by Ross Young, CEO of display industry research firm Display Supply Chain Consultants. Bloomberg's Mark Gurman also said the new iPad Pro models might not ship until "deeper" into April in his Power On newsletter on Sunday:I've repeatedly said that new...
Resale value trends suggest the iPhone SE 4 may not hold its value as well as Apple's flagship models, according to SellCell. According to the report, Apple's iPhone SE models have historically depreciated much more rapidly than the company's more premium offerings. The third-generation iPhone SE, which launched in March 2022, experienced a significant drop in resale value, losing 42.6%...
iOS 17.4.1 and iPadOS 17.4.1 should be released within the next few days, with a build number of 21E235, according to a source with a proven track record. MacRumors previously reported that Apple was internally testing iOS 17.4.1. As a minor update for the iPhone, it will likely address software bugs and/or security vulnerabilities. It is unclear if the update will include any other changes. ...
Since Apple unveiled macOS Sonoma 14.4 on March 7, the transition to the latest software update has not been entirely smooth for everyone, and a number of issues have been reported by users that significantly impact their daily workflow. This article lists the most prominent challenges users have faced since updating to macOS Sonoma 14.4, and offers potential solutions where available. USB...
Top Rated Comments
That's where I got my Apple Pay barcode tattoo.
----------
No LOL - the user implants the sensor. FDA says to change it every 7 days but I typically get 20+ days out of mine. The Apple Watch and the Dexcom system are mutually exclusive. What is being integrated is the option for the transmitter to send the data now to other devices (i.e. Apple Watch, Android phones etc) and not just the receiver we all have currently to see the data.
You're not a diabetic, so your pancreas works, and you have a closed loop system to control your blood sugar. You decide, tonight, to eat a piece of cake with 39g of carbohydrates, and then go to sleep. You wake up, and your blood sugar is 72 +/- 10 mg/dl.
or
You are a T1 diabetic, and so you have to do all of those calculations in your head, or your insulin pump, but in the interest of saving money, you use shots and regular/NPH insulin, instead of a pump ($7000, plus $40/week in supplies and insulin) and a CGM ($1400, plus $50/week), supplied by Dexcom, since Apple isn't making a CGM, just a watch to see the results of that CGM on the watch. You wake up (or not) with blood sugar between 30 and 400, because your carb:insulin ratio didn't take into account the stress you had remembering the foxtrot on the dance floor, the dawn effect, the syringe you used didn't have the resolution needed to give yourself 4.8 units, or that the NPH kicked in after the sugar wore off of that cake, or some reason you didn't take into account, like over/underestimating the carb/fat/protein ratios and the glycemic index of that cake and your body.
Oh yeah, that 10 quid was for the meter. The test strips are still $1/ea for the OneTouch Brand. The meter companies don't lose money, and the meter is a loss leader. Ever try to get the Bayer meter to read a OneTouch Strip?
Come over to my house. I'll let you walk a mile in my shoes.
NOTE: Bruce did apologize for his post. My apologies for this rant after his apology.
Agree that this doesn't apply to the majority of folks out there (thankfully) but it's not really a "feature" of the watch. It's basically just another app. Even if I don't buy an Apple Watch the integration with my iPhone is still very exciting news for CGM users.
If you had a dead pancreas you would understand :)
No worries and I laugh about this stuff all the time. Type 1 (Juvenile Diabetes) is pain in the ass but there are a lot of other folks a lot worse off than me.
There is an insertion device that comes with each sensor. Basically the sensor is wrapped around a needle which is inserted under the skin and then the needle is removed just leaving the sensor embedded. Very cool stuff and useful BG trending information for us.