- Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) has had a small team of biomedical engineers working on a secret initiative to develop non-invasive glucose sensors in what it hopes would be a game-changer for diabetes treatment, CNBC reports.
- The effort -- apparently under way for at least five years, and envisioned originally by co-founder Steve Jobs -- hopes to be the first to track blood sugar levels accurately without piercing the skin. One source said the team is working on optical sensors that might shine a light through the skin for measurement.
- Jobs saw wearables (such as the Apple Watch) being used to monitor a variety of vital signs, including blood glucose. And success could mean a boon for the watch with an appeal to millions of patients.
- The company's glucose team is said to report to the company's senior VP of hardware technologies, Johny Srouji.
- And it's not the only one in a race for the "holy grail" of diabetes treatment: Verily, a life-sciences unit at Alphabet (GOOG, GOOGL), is working on glucose sensors including a smart contact lens that would measure levels through the eye.
Original article