Food and Drug Administration on Wednesday given safety communication warning people to stay away from smartwatches and smart rings that claim to measure blood sugar levels without touching the skin. “FDA has not authorized, cleared, or approved any smartwatch or smart ring designed to measure or estimate blood glucose values on its own,” the agency wrote in a communication, asking consumers, patients and caregivers to stay away. such devices.
Non-invasive blood sugar monitoring, currently not available on any consumer device, can be combined with FDA-cleared wearables such as the Dexcom G7, which uses needles to read your blood sugar levels, instead of popular wearables like the Apple Watch and the Oura ring. Getting a smart watch or smart ring to monitor blood sugar levels without penetrating the skin, for example, would be a major medical advance, allowing people with diabetes to stop pinching themselves every day and alerting pre-diabetics.
Both Apple and Samsung have reportedly been working on the technology for years. Last year, Bloomberg informed Apple’s non-prick monitor was in the “proof of concept phase” and could come to market once the company figures out how to scale it down. Apple has been working on the project since 2010, although it will be years before the technology is small enough to fit into the Apple Watch. So is Samsung exploration ways to build the technology into the company’s product, the Galaxy Ring announced recently.
Until then, be skeptical of any device that claims to do this now. The FDA writes that current smartwatches and smart rings “do not directly monitor blood glucose levels.” If you see any company selling a device with these claims, you can let me know to the FDA through the agency’s MedWatch Voluntary Reporting Form.
