Tag Archives: Glucose

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.

The post Samsung Galaxy Watch non-invasive glucose monitor will be a live-saving game-changer first appeared on Yanko Design.