The World Diabetes Day (WDD) is getting closer! This day was created by IDF and the World Health Organization as an opportunity to raise awareness on the topic as well as to foster actions that may confront diabetes as a global health issue. Did you know that the WDD takes place on November 14 because it marks the birthday of insulin discoverer Dr. Frederick Banting?
Let´s celebrate together this month and the new technologies that are coming to the market soon. These latest wearables have a great potential to make the daily routine of patients with diabetes much easier!
Fitbit has now a new alliance with the diabetes management platform One Drop. This alliance will allow the user to sync their blood glucose data collected by the One Drop app with the Fitbit´s bracelet. Herein, the user will also be able to check how their sleep, heart rate metrics and physical levels affect their levels of glucose in the blood. Moreover, One Drop stresses that a new app is being developed for the Fitbit. This new app will enable the user to check their latest data both on their smartphone and on the Fitbit bracelet.
However, One Drop is not the only diabetes-related technology company that Fitbit has paired up with. Fitbit is teaming up with Dexcom, a company that develops continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) devices. The near-future “Fitbit-Dexcom” device will be equipped with a sensor that will detect blood oxygen levels and heart rate. The user will also be provided with a bigger picture of their glucose levels. The new product is expected to be released in 2018.
Monitoring blood sugar levels without finger pricking is becoming one of the hottest topics among diabetes researchers and wearable developers. A new technology created by Dr. Shalini Prasad – UT Dallas – assures to track blood sugar levels from sweat! The development looks like a watch that can be worn on your wrist and with a click it can tell you whether the sugar level in your blood is high or not. And the best thing is that the device costs only 7 cents! According to Dr. Shalini Prasad, this kind of technology should have a broad access to the population at a low price. Dr. Shalini Prasad´s team is now engaged with final researches so that the “wearable sweat sensor” can be found as soon as possible on the market!
Let´s hope that these new technologies keep gaining momentum! Be sure to stay tuned for the upcoming news and release dates!
