The Symphony continuous glucose monitoring system from Echo Therapeutics.

The global market for continuous blood glucose monitoring is in for slow but steady growth, according to a new report from Allied Market Research. Though the relatively new market was valued at just $194.8 million in 2012, Allied projects it will hit $568.5 million by 2020, making for a compound annual growth rate of 14.8 percent between this year and 2020.

"The market is overcoming several challenges towards the commercialization of closed loop CGMs with significant focus on technological innovation. This is expected to take the concept of CGM to a next level from research to mass adoption," AMR analyst Debbie Shields said in a statement.

In continuous glucose monitoring, a patch or implanted sensor checks the glucose level in a user's interstitial fluid around every few minutes, sending the signals to a reading device via a transmitter. The technology has advantages over traditional blood glucose monitoring -- it's less invasive and can return data about blood glucose levels during sleep, or how glucose levels correspond to particular activities. For instance, DexCom continuous glucose monitors were used by cyclists in the mHealth Grand Prix this year.

But adoption may have been limited by factors like issues with cost and accuracy and a lower level of reimbursement than traditional glucose monitoring technologies, Shields said.

"However, the under commercialization is presenting opportunities for the marketers as new and innovative products will easily take the advantage of lower product presence, she said, adding that the impact of FDA's support for the artificial pancreas project and the continued increase in diabetes cases will contribute to the market's growth.

Allied Research segmented the market in several ways. The firm found that home settings, as opposed to clinical settings, were the largest revenue generating segment in 2012, but hospital use is expected to emerge to be the most attractive segment between now and 2020.

Globally, the biggest share of the market consisted of transmitters and receivers, at $88.5 million in 2012. However, Allied predicts that the sensors market will surpass transmitters and receivers and attain a market size of $235.9 million by 2020, growing at a CAGR of 15.3 percent during the forecast period. Insulin pumps are also expected to have a high growth rate.

The North American region accounted for the largest share of continuous glucose monitoring revenue in 2012, but the firm predicted the highest future growth in the Asia Pacific region.