Steve Pacelli, executive vice president at biotech company Dexcom, says they are revolutionizing the way people check their blood sugar.
The technology, called the G5 mobile system, uses sensors to help monitor your blood sugar levels from your phone. The system is made of three parts: a handheld receiver that monitors your levels, a wireless transmitter and a self-inserted sensor. The device then sends the data directly to your smartphone and up to five other people.
“Imagine a parent going to bed at night worrying about a child living with diabetes having a hypoglycemia or low blood sugar event at night,” Pacelli says to NBC 7. “That patient or parent has the peace of mind to know if the child has a problem at night, if the child goes low with their blood sugar the parent will actually be alerted on their smartphone as well as the child. So it’s a wonderful, wonderful tool.”
Though Pacelli has learned Apple may be trying to develop a similar tool, he remains unworried.
Pacelli says Apple is likely developing a sensor that will not pierce the skin and therefore give less accurate readings.
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Dexcom is working to refine its sensor enough to get it down to size of a band aid, something he’s sure Apple can’t do.
“We believe that the accuracy and performance we can achieve with products like that will be much better than people will be able to produce from a non-invasive perspective,” Pacelli adds.
