Diabetes update: Dexcom inks partnership with Apple
The big news in the diabetes space is that Dexcom and Apple will team up to integrate data directly from Dexcom’s glucose sensors into Apple’s wearable Apple Watch.
The technology makes use of edge computing. The companies also announced an updated Bluetooth API for the watch, which will allow the Dexcom sensor to connect directly to the device, avoiding the need to pass through an iPhone application.
Currently, users are able to view glucose readings, trend arrows and trend graphs on the Watch by syncing the Dexcom G5 mobile application to the Watch. This means that if the user’s phone is dead, out of range or disconnected from Bluetooth, there is no way to see the data on the wearable Watch.
With the update, the Watch and Dexcom glucose sensor will communicate directly, eliminating possible phone issues from the equation, Apple said at its WWDC 2017 presentation.
Dexcom also won a nod from FDA for an Android G5 Mobile application in June.
In other recent diabetes treatment news, Medtronic launched its hybrid closed loop 670 G system. Medtronic touts the MiniMed 670G “artificial pancreas” hybrid closed loop system as the first system of its kind to win clearance globally. The device is designed to automatically track and adjust blood sugar levels in patients with diabetes, measuring blood glucose every 5 minutes and automatically administering or withholding insulin.
