Tag Archives: Glucose

A Diabetes Device You’d Actually Want to Carry Every Day

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I’ll be honest. When I was first diagnosed with diabetes, one of my biggest fears wasn’t just managing my blood sugar or giving myself injections. It was the thought of walking around with devices that screamed “medical patient” everywhere I went. I wanted to feel like myself, not like someone who needed constant hospital-grade equipment just to get through lunch.

That’s why the INSPO smart insulin delivery system caught my attention. Designed by Minseo Lee and Haneul Kang, this isn’t just another glucose monitor or insulin pen. It’s a complete rethinking of what diabetes management could look like if someone actually considered how we want to live our lives.

Designers: Minseo Lee, Haneul Kang

Current diabetes technology has made incredible strides, don’t get me wrong. Insulin pumps and continuous glucose monitors have genuinely saved lives. But they come with baggage that goes beyond their physical weight. The financial burden is real. High upfront costs, endless consumables, insurance companies that may or may not cover what you need. And then there’s the psychological weight of wearing something that looks like it belongs in a medical facility rather than at a coffee shop or the gym.

I’ve watched the design world transform emergency kits and fire extinguishers from eyesores into objects that blend beautifully into modern homes. INSPO applies that same philosophy to diabetes care. The message is simple but revolutionary: medical devices should expand their design language so we can use them naturally in daily life, not just in clinical settings.

What makes INSPO different starts with its approach to glucose monitoring. The continuous glucose monitoring device straps onto your upper arm and measures blood sugar levels non-invasively. No more finger pricks throughout the day, no more finding discrete places to draw blood when you’re out. The CGM quietly does its job while you do yours, and the best part? It comes with customizable straps in various designs. Finally, someone understood that personal expression matters, even when we’re talking about medical devices.

The insulin pen itself is where INSPO really shines. It works in real time with the CGM, automatically adjusting the dosage based on your current needs. When you need to inject, a hidden interface appears at the top of the pen, displaying your exact dosage. It’s discreet, elegant, and gives you the information you need without announcing your condition to everyone around you. The sensual, natural design means I wouldn’t think twice about using it at a restaurant or during a work meeting. It looks like something I chose to carry, not something I’m forced to manage.

The system includes a sleek case that holds both the insulin pen and CGM, with built-in pogo-pin charging terminals. Everything stores and charges simultaneously, which means one less thing to remember, one less task in an already complicated daily routine. The case is designed to go anywhere, which matters when your life doesn’t revolve around being near an outlet or a safe storage spot.

Using INSPO is refreshingly simple. You wear the CGM on your upper arm. It measures your glucose continuously and transmits that data to the insulin pen. When you need insulin, you check the hidden interface for your precise dose, then inject with a single touch. That’s it. No complex calculations, no second-guessing, no mental gymnastics while you’re trying to enjoy your meal or focus on your day.

The designers talk about transforming diabetes devices “from something you once hid, to a lifestyle device you’re proud to reveal.” That resonates deeply with me. I’m tired of feeling like I need to apologize for my condition or hide the tools that keep me healthy. INSPO represents a shift in thinking where managing diabetes doesn’t mean sacrificing style, confidence, or the simple pleasure of blending in when you want to.

This is what the future of diabetes care should look like. Not just smarter technology, but thoughtful design that acknowledges we’re whole people with lives we want to live fully. INSPO doesn’t just help manage diabetes, it helps us reclaim the parts of ourselves we shouldn’t have to give up in the first place.

The post A Diabetes Device You’d Actually Want to Carry Every Day first appeared on Yanko Design.

Glucose monitor and insulin pump concept is a sustainable way to keep tabs on diabetes

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Of the many disorders that afflict people today, diabetes is perhaps the literally most painful one to monitor and maintain. Even with advancements in medical technology, pricking your finger is still the most accurate way to measure blood sugar levels. At the same time, taking in insulin often involves painful and tedious injections. And it isn’t just humans who are hurting from these, but the environment also suffers from all the waste these life-saving tools produce. It’s probably high time to have a glucose monitor and insulin delivery system that is not only painless and convenient but also sustainable, which is exactly what this minimalist-looking device concept is proposing.

Designer: Maxwell Stevens

CGMs or Continuous Glucose Monitors are one of the less invasive methods of keeping tabs on your blood sugar levels, though most do require inserting a sensor under the skin that is read by a device that sticks to your body over that site. When it comes to injecting insulin, on the other hand, insulin pumps remove the need to always pierce your skin for every injection, as a needle stays in its position for a day or two before needing to be replaced, unless the pump is one that actually stays on your body and above your skin. If these two devices sound almost related, it’s because they really are, and the Ingo CGM and insulin pump concept actually combines these two functions into a single, reusable, and sustainable device.

This oval-shaped device combines two critical functions in a single compact design that diabetes patients can discreetly wear on their bodies. Ingo can even have different colors to match skin tones so they won’t stand out as much as more obvious medical devices. There’s also the element of convenience as the device can be easily recharged on a wireless base, while the CGM sensor and pump needle are integrated into the sensor patches that stick over your skin.

Ingo also differs from existing CGMs and insulin pumps in the way that it tries to reduce the amount of waste as much as possible. Instead of disposable parts, it uses reusable components and recyclable patches, lessening the burden on the environment that these solutions often place on the planet. The rechargeable device and refillable insulin tank also prolong the life of the product or at least those parts that shouldn’t have to be thrown away frequently. Ingo is definitely an interesting proposal for a more humane and more environment-friendly way to keep diabetes patients living healthy and meaningful lives while also taking care of the planet they’re living on.

The post Glucose monitor and insulin pump concept is a sustainable way to keep tabs on diabetes first appeared on Yanko Design.

Samsung Galaxy Watch non-invasive glucose monitor will be a live-saving game-changer

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While there seems to be a rising interest in smart rings as condensed fitness monitors, smartwatches are hardly done growing. Smart rings, at least in their current incarnation, promise a discreet way to keep track of your body’s state, but smartwatches have more room for more advanced sensors and features that you can never fit inside a ring. Some of those features might even make the difference between life and death, as proven time and again by Apple Watch anecdotes. Samsung, however, is setting its sights on a more ambitious goal that’s considered to be one of the Holy Grails of home healthcare. In the near future, its Galaxy Watch line could tell the wearer if their blood sugar is dangerously low or high, all without having to prick their skin and draw blood.

Designer: Samsung (via Bloomberg)

Next to heart-related disorders, diabetes is considered to be one of the most serious diseases plaguing people today. In fact, it’s also labeled as a “silent killer” because of how too late a diagnosis often comes. Monitoring one’s glucose or blood sugar levels, after all, is a literally painful procedure that most people would avoid, including diabetics themselves. There is a great and urgent demand for non-invasive glucose monitoring solutions, and Samsung is apparently already eyeing that achievement.

According to the company’s digital health chief, Hon Pak, Samsung is really pushing hard to make this innovation available in a future version of its Galaxy Watch wearables, like the Galaxy Watch 6 pictured in this piece. A non-invasive blood sugar monitor, together with continuous blood pressure monitoring, would definitely put Samsung at the head of the race. Of course, it’s easier said than done, and even the exec can only hope that the technology and the product will be available within the next five years.

It can’t take its sweet time either, because in addition to medical equipment manufacturers trying to cash in on this potentially lucrative future market, Samsung is also racing against Apple. The Cupertino-based company whose Apple Watch has become synonymous with life-saving wearables, has long been reported to be working on a solution as well. Such a smartwatch with a non-invasive glucose monitor will surely be a reality, but whoever gets there first will be able to claim a large share of the market.

Then again, diabetics and healthcare workers probably care less about who launches a design first, as long as a reliable product does indeed arrive. There are already a few non-invasive monitors that indirectly compute glucose levels from other biometrics, but their accuracy is often still in question. A smartwatch might not even be as accurate as those, but anything that will give wearers the faintest clue is still significantly better than not knowing at all until it’s far too late to make a difference.

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