Modern wearables are great and can help you track all kinds of things from activity to sleep but some things are still missing. The prospect of a wearable that can continuously monitor glucose without having to prick yourself with a needle has long been considered the Holy Grail and will be life-changing for many users..
Apple, Samsung, Huawei and many others have found a way to let us track our heart rate 24/7 to an accuracy level that can give you a heads up if you’re suffering from a serious heart condition. We’re also seeing something similar happening for blood pressure tracking and the ability to detect hypertension.
Now Samsung says it’s going to do the same for blood glucose monitoring and saying that would be a huge deal is a massive understatement.
It used its most recent Health forum to reveal that not only is blood glucose a big area of focus for the company, but it’s also developing a sensor algorithm to detect early signs of diabetes and working on blood glucose monitoring technology.
Samsung’s Senior Vice President Dr Hon Pak added that the progress that the team behind has made building the optical-based glucose monitor is “exciting” and will be a “game-changer, but as yet isn’t putting a time on a launch.
Most will have assumed that this technology will be reserved for Samsung Galaxy smartwatches, perhaps the upcoming Galaxy Watch 8. After all, watches are where Samsung first introduced ECG and blood pressure features.
I’d like to think that when this potentially ground-breaking technology is ready, Samsung actually decides to put it in a future Galaxy Ring.
Hannah Cowton-Barnes / Foundry
While smartwatches remain the dominant wearable force, we cannot ignore the emergence of the smart ring, including Samsung’s decision to make one. Up until now, smart rings have focused on monitoring data like steps, sleep, heart rate and blood oxygen levels and offer guidance and insights to your general well-being.
Until this year, there wasn’t a smart ring that promised to deliver serious health insights. Then the Circular Ring 2 was announced with an ECG sensor and an FDA-cleared algorithm to detect signs of atrial fibrillation.
Smart rings like the Oura Ring have been skirting around the idea that it can offer health insights like that. This move by Circular may just change things on that front.
Can Samsung be first to market?
Samsung says its glucose monitor is optical based and the Galaxy Ring is already packing optical sensors to track heart rate, blood oxygen levels and skin temperature.
Getting that sensor technology into a smartwatch is one thing, putting it in a smart ring with a much smaller form factor to play with only makes things harder. The first Samsung Galaxy Ring was proof that Samsung knows how to make a good smart ring and I do think the idea of continuously monitoring data from a screen-less wearable like a ring is a more natural fit than a smartwatch.
You don’t need to be constantly checking in and can leave it to the companion app to tell you when trends in your data have altered.
The fact that Samsung isn’t putting a launch date on this monitor says there’s still work to be done. Having spoken to experts in this space like Dexcom about the challenges of creating an accurate non-invasive monitor, I don’t expect to be seeing it in the very near future – so perhaps not the Galaxy Ring 2 but maybe a third-generation model.
When Samsung does have that sensor technology ready, it does seem more likely that it will be featured inside of its smartwatches. If Samsung wanted to make the biggest noise though, it should put it in a ring first.
It would be a big win for a wearable form factor that’s still making its mark but is undoubtedly here to stay.
