Yesterday, startup LifePlus exited stealth mode to reveal what it claims to be the first noninvasive continuous blood glucose monitoring multi-sensor wearable, called LifeLeaf. Although details are scare on exactly how the technology works, the company said the product is being tested in five clinical trials around the world.
“We have been in stealth mode and today we are thrilled to announce the introduction of LifeLeaf as part of the burgeoning medical wearables category,” John Trobough, executive chairman of the board and White House Innovation Fellow, said in a statement. “Managing diabetes and other chronic diseases requires early and timely detection, rapid intervention, and high compliance. LifeLeaf exceeds those requirements with its patent-pending open standards-based software stack and cloud-based analytics. LifeLeaf is different from any other product and software technology available — it is truly unique and we are excited to make this multi-sensor capability available to companies and developers globally.”
On top of monitoring blood glucose levels, the device tracks heart rate, blood pressure, respiration rate, and oxygen saturation.
According to the product’s webpage, the multi-sensor smartwatch has embedded algorithms that extract vital parameters, which are then sent to the user’s smartphone interface. Users can then decide if they would like to send this information to healthcare professionals. The system’s cloud AI platform can also derive actionable alerts and clinical insights.
The company said that the multi-sensor watch can continuously and non-invasively monitor chronic health conditions including diabetes, cardiac arrhythmia, congestive heart failure, COPD, sleep apnea, and hypertension. The system gives users real-time notifications and cloud-based AI solutions.
Right now LifeLeaf and LifePlus are not listed as being cleared by the FDA, according to the agency's website. While LifePlus claims to have the first noninvasive continuous blood glucose monitoring multi-sensor wearable, it's worth noting that other companies such as Prediktor Medical also have similar noninvasive CGM wearables currently in development and testing.
CGMs have been on the market for some time, but until this point no company has announced a noninvasive CGM despite the numerous tech and wearable giants that have jumped in the game. At the beginning of the year, for example, Fitbit invested $6 million in glucose monitoring startup Sano, which is developing a mobile app and sensor that will allow users to continuously monitor blood glucose levels. In September, Fitbit also announced a partnership with Dexcom with the intention of bringing data from Dexcom’s CGM directly to the display of Fitbit’s upcoming Ionic smartwatch.
But Fitbit isn’t the only wearable maker jumping into the CGM game. In April of 2017, CNBC’s Christina Farr reported that Apple had a small office team dedicated to diabetes research that had been working for a handful of years. Still, a non-invasive CGM has yet to hit the market, despite the efforts of big names in the industry.
MobiHealthNews has reached out to LifePlus for further information and will update the story accordingly.
