Continuous Blood Glucose Monitoring in Diabetes

One of the fundamental challenges in managing diabetes, especially insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (or “juvenile onset” diabetes) is the lag between a sharp trend in blood glucose levels (up or down) and the diabetic’s awareness.  The sooner a diabetic can become aware of becoming hypo- or hyperglycemic, the sooner he/she can act to preempt this adverse affects, some of which (especially for hypoglycemia) can be dangerous.

One of the fundamental challenges in managing diabetes, especially insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (or “juvenile onset” diabetes) is the lag between a sharp trend in blood glucose levels (up or down) and the diabetic’s awareness.  The sooner a diabetic can become aware of becoming hypo- or hyperglycemic, the sooner he/she can act to preempt this adverse affects, some of which (especially for hypoglycemia) can be dangerous.

Couple this with another fundamental challenge in diabetes — the need for painful, frequent blood glucose testing involving finger pricks for blood sampling — and it becomes clear why continuous blood glucose monitoring (cBGM), especially non-invasive, holds potential.  While the challenge of providing cBGM is currently more economic than technical, as a practical matter the solution has not yet emerged that is supported by industry.

Below (and based on an inquiry from a Quora member) is a 2010 listing (perhaps in need of  a recent update) of manufacturers developing continuous blood glucose monitors.

Developers of Continuous Blood Glucose Monitors

Source:  Report #D510, “Diabetes Management: Products, Technologies, Markets and Opportunities Worldwide 2009-2018”, Report #D510.