Apple purportedly making progress on glucose monitoring tech for the Apple Watch

Apple is making progress on noninvasive blood glucose monitoring tech to be included in future Apple Watches, according to Bloomberg‘s Mark Gurman.

Gurman says the goal of Apple’s secret endeavor — dubbed E5 — is to measure how much glucose is in someone’s body without needing to prick the skin for blood. After hitting major milestones recently, the company now believes it could eventually bring glucose monitoring to market, he adds.

This is a feature that’s been rumored for a years. In 2017, CNBC reported that Apple 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, 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.

Though the CBNC story concentrated on diabetes monitoring, optical sensors could also measure blood glucose levels. And Apple is increasingly positioning the Apple Watch as a health/fitness tool.