I had a really interesting conversation today with a woman who is looking into the feasibility of creating a non-invasive continuous blood sugar monitor (as in, a machine you carry with you that tells your BG without the use of anything under your skin), and it made me wonder what this community would think of such a gadget. Would it be a dream come true? Or too "Star Trekky" to trust? If it were proven to be accurate and reliable would you use such a thing? Do you see pros and cons to it?
If you could design your own ideal BG monitor, in a fantasy land where the rules of science, FDA, health insurance etc don't apply (but we still have diabetes), what would it look like and how would it work?
In the form of a watch, bracelet, ring... something easily accessible with adjustable alarm levels. Some with continuous sampling, some with only instantaneous measurements. All fun aside, I think it is very unlikely in the near future, if ever. But, we can dream can't we?
The Glucowatch was the coolest idea ever, when I saw Kristen Stewart wearing one in the movie Panic Room, I said to myself I have got to have one of those bad boys, it's to bad it was just a move prop. The real GlucoWatch was a big flop.....
It would work like a contact lense that is scanning the glucose level in the fluid of the eye ball. Ok, it will not work because miniaturization is not that advanced.
Second try: it will work with a device we press on your eye. It will then scan the fluid with an invisible laser. This laser will interact with the glucose molecules in the fluid. This way it can measure the blood glucose - perhaps with some lag like a sensor.
Third try: artificial odor sensors with a sensitivity comparable to the nose of dogs will permanently check our body-odor. They are integrated in our diabetic underwear and will show the estimated level on a small bluetooth device with alarm function, trend etc. Woof-woof!
I would 100% use a continuous monitor that's non-invasive, as long as it's accurate and small.
My ideal one would be like a watch--you wear it around your wrist (maybe it shows the time, too?), and it doesn't look like those clunky watches, either. I want it slim and sleek and available in a variety of colors and styles (HA!). It has a color display and it's easy to use and program and insurance would pay for it with no questions asked.
It has vibrating alarms, different for high and low. While we're at it, it's also an alarm clock.
It's extremely accurate with minimal or no lag, and it doesn't get thrown off by things like sweat or fast heart rate.
If cost and accuracy were good, I'd love to check by holding my finger in place for 30-60 seconds. I'd also be happy with a larger unit that can be kept in a car, at home, and at office for unlimited and blood-less bg checking. I imagine no strips could make the long-term cost reasonable.
As long as it was something relatively small I would be thrilled to use it. It seems to me that someone was working on a stickless one that you put your finger into it and it could read bg with no stab.
Maybe you carry a monitor/recorder thing about the size of current meters that wirelessly talks to a ring?
My idea would be a small patch that you place anywhere on your body like a band aid that transmitted to a smart phone. It would have to be a permanent device that never needed to be replaced, just reattached occasionally with new adhesive and fresh batteries.
I doubt we will ever see such a device because there is no continuing profits for the maker but we can dream.
Hasn’t this already been done? I think it was called the gluco watch or something? Worn on the wrist with electrical contacts touching the skin and measuring glucose levels I think in perspiration? I read about it somewhere… Never caught on apparently
There’s very little continuing profit for the makers of eyeglasses, hearing aids, colostomy bags, pacemakers, or many other medical devices that people wear on their bodies yet they still get manufactured… Innovation is always profitable to somebody just not to the established players. Many of us would pay thousands or even tens of thousands of dollars for such a device if it was expected to last for many years… There’s plenty of market for somebody to sell something like this
I never said it wouldn't work, I only said that if the manufacturer wanted to make money, they should own the batteries that supply it.
And the manufacturers of colostomy bags definitely have continuing profit. The bags (and the part that sticks to the skin that attaches the bag) have to be replaced, after all...
