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[tim00mike]

Startup claims its new wearable can monitor blood sugar without needles

Quantum Operation Inc's prototype could be a big deal, if it works.


https://www.engadget.com/quantum-operation-inc-wearable-glucose-121015450.html

A Japanese startup at CES is claiming to have solved one of the biggest problems in medical technology: Noninvasive continuous glucose monitoring. Quantum Operation Inc, exhibiting at the virtual show, says that its prototype wearable can accurately measure blood sugar from the wrist. Looking like a knock-off Apple Watch, the prototype crams in a small spectrometer which is used to scan the blood to measure for glucose. Quantum’s pitch adds that the watch is also capable of reading other vital signs, including heart rate and ECG.

The company says that its secret sauce is in its patented spectroscopy materials which are built into the watch and its band. To use it, the wearer simply needs to slide the watch on and activate the monitoring from the menu, and after around 20 seconds, the data is displayed. Quantum says that it expects to sell its hardware to insurers and healthcare providers, as well as building a big data platform to collect and examine the vast trove of information generated by patients wearing the device.

There’s still a long way to go before we’re able to see this sort of technology in a working product, even longer before it’s in one we want to buy. But if Quantum can demonstrate that it’s avoided the pitfalls that some of its rivals have hit, and that its technology is accurate enough, this could be pretty exciting.

Of course, this being an all-virtual CES, it’s even harder to take the company’s fantastic claims at face value. If we were at the show in person, we’d be able to test the device out for ourselves and speak to the founders face-to-face. It’s worth noting, too, that there isn’t -- yet -- any peer-reviewed or otherwise externally-validated science to support this specific technology and its application. We can’t make any serious judgment on this technology yet, beyond saying that if Quantum Operation can make good on its claims, then we may be on the cusp of a very exciting time for wearables.


https://quantum-op.co.jp/