Apple Watch Blood Glucose Team Gains New Lead

Apple has done some internal shuffling and appointed Tim Millet, vice president of platform architecture, to lead the team that is working on blood glucose monitoring functionality for the Apple Watch.

Apple Watch Blood Glucose Monitoring Feature 2
According to Bloomberg, Millet is now in charge of the Exploratory Design Group or XDG that has been developing noninvasive blood glucose testing for years. The team was previously led by longtime Apple employee Bill Athas, but he unexpectedly died in late 2022.

Millet has been at Apple for almost 20 years, and he reports to Apple chip chief Johny Srouji. Bloomberg says that Millet has played a key role in the transition to Apple silicon, leading several teams that work on the processors.

Apple's work on blood glucose monitoring is being overseen by the semiconductor team rather than a health team because it requires advanced sensors and chips. Apple is exploring a noninvasive monitoring technique that involves shooting a laser underneath the skin to determine the concentration of glucose in the blood.

Noninvasive blood glucose monitoring would allow diabetics to test their blood glucose levels without needing to prick the skin, plus it would likely be able to detect pre-diabetes and other blood glucose issues.

Earlier this year, Apple reached a milestone "proof-of-concept" stage with hardware that is about the size of an iPhone, but Apple needs to condense the components into a size that can fit into an Apple Watch.

A blood glucose monitoring function for the Apple Watch remains several years away.

Related Roundup: Apple Watch Series 9
Buyer's Guide: Apple Watch (Buy Now)

Top Rated Comments

macsplusmacs Avatar
7 weeks ago
If they pull this off, 99% of people do not understand what a game changer this is going to be and is prob. why Tim insists apple will be known as a health company by the end of his tenure.
Score: 68 Votes (Like | Disagree)
appleguy123 Avatar
7 weeks ago
IMO, this is the single most important thing Apple is working on. Even for non-diabetics it has huge health benefits to know how foods and activities affect our bodies. I do hope that non-invasive lactate monitoring during workouts can quickly follow from this technology as well. :)
Score: 42 Votes (Like | Disagree)
iZac Avatar
7 weeks ago
I wish Apple hurried up with this thing, I’ve wanted to get one for my type 2 diabetic mum from the moment I heard about it years ago!
Score: 27 Votes (Like | Disagree)
ThaRuler Avatar
7 weeks ago
Now this is one reason I would finally buy my first Apple Watch
Score: 26 Votes (Like | Disagree)
BobHinden Avatar
7 weeks ago
I would buy a new Apple Watch with this feature as soon as it was available.
Score: 22 Votes (Like | Disagree)
lazyrighteye Avatar
7 weeks ago

If they pull this off, 99% of people do not understand what a game changer this is going to be and is prob. why Tim insists apple will be known as a health company by the end of his tenure.
Two stats for you:
• According to the WHO, about 422 million people worldwide have diabetes.
• Diabetics are twice as likely to have heart disease or stroke than those without.

If Apple can pull off legit glucose monitoring, they won't be able to manufacture enough Watches to meet demand. They'll also need to create a new phrase to replace "game changer."
Score: 22 Votes (Like | Disagree)

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