Apple Is 12 Years In -- But We've Been Covering The Effort For Roughly... Six. Med Devices Are... Hard.

To be sure, the juggernaut of a company -- a category killer, really. . . is still probably four years away from an FDA filing, and maybe three more away -- from approval to sell, in the US.

Still -- this is good progress. It points up just how hard the science of "medical device" hardware really is. Here's the progress after six years: finally, proof of concept. It can be accurate, in the wild. That's step one.

. . .Apple's moonshot project to use the Apple Watch as a noninvasive glucose meter has reportedly reached a "proof of concept" stage, but will still take years to come to market.

Being able to monitor blood glucose levels without any invasive procedures has regularly been rumored to be coming, but research was expected to take many more years.

According to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman, it will still take time to become part of the Apple Watch, but the research has passed a significant milestone. Unspecified sources, seemingly within Apple, say that after 12 years they have reached what they call a proof of concept stage. . . .

But mark my words -- when it does clear FDA, the old line med device firms will. . . wheeze and cough. . . as even tiny pin-sticks become a thing largely of the past. And it is likely many more will get treated, if they don't have to face a jab twice a day. And that's a very. . . good thing. Smile. . . .

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