Seattle-based Know Labs incorporated its Bio-RFID sensor into the first generation of this technology. The proprietary Bio-RFID technology uses spectroscopy to direct electromagnetic energy through a substance or material. Through this, it can capture a unique molecular signature. The Know Labs technology integrates into wearable, mobile or bench-top form factors.
This non-invasive technology demonstrated technical feasibility and stability in blood glucose measurements in a lab environment. Now, the company revealed this technology incorporated in a portable device.
According to Know Labs, no medical-grade, commercially available non-invasive means of measuring blood glucose exist currently. The company hopes to deliver the first FDA-cleared non-invasive blood glucose monitor for those with diabetes and pre-diabetes.
Know Labs calls its Gen 1 prototype a portable research lab designed as a powerful data collection device. It enables the company to scale data collection tenfold, including testing across diverse participant populations and scenarios.
“The completion of Gen 1 marks a significant engineering achievement for the company and, more broadly, for innovation in medical diagnostics,” said Ron Erickson, CEO and chair at Know Labs. “The Bio-RFID sensor is a novel technology that is leading the way to an entirely new branch of science, and Gen 1 takes us closer to our goal of enabling a better way of life for people living with diabetes.”
More on the Know Labs glucose monitoring prototype
Erickson added that many tried to non-invasively ascertain glucose levels. He said they either failed or remain years away from success. In developing this prototype, he said Know Labs overcame “incredible” engineering complexities to achieve this level of progress.
Steve Kent, chief product officer, called the Gen 1 prototype a first-of-its-kind engineering achievement. He said the company took the sophisticated capabilities of its research lab and miniaturized every critical element into a pocket-sized device. It features more on-board computing power than a desktop PC and built-in machine learning capabilities. The device also offers a long battery life and full configuration capabilities to support more development initiatives.
“As we deploy Gen 1 into this next research phase, our focus is on high-quality data collection, refining our algorithms based on this new data, and understanding all the scenarios in which our glucose monitoring device may be used,” Kent said.
Know Labs said its focus in 2023 centers around external validation for this technology. It plans to make further refinements to the device as it works toward bringing an FDA-cleared product to market.
