Apple is close to perfecting a device that would monitor people's glucose levels without pricking the skin for blood, Bloomberg reported Feb. 22.
The secret project started in 2010 after Apple co-founder Steve Jobs, then dealing with his own health problems, directed the company to purchase a startup focused on noninvasive blood glucose monitoring, according to the Feb. 22 story. Employees used to work as part of a company with a different name and badges, 12 miles from Apple's main campus.
Hundreds of engineers in Apple's previously unreported Exploratory Design Group, or XDG, are developing a prototype device that would be the size of an iPhone and attach to a person's bicep, people familiar with the matter told the news outlet. The ultimate goal would be to incorporate the technology into the Apple Watch.
As Bloomberg noted, the device, while still years away, would "upend a multibillion-dollar industry" and "cement Apple as a powerhouse in healthcare." Still, other companies have tried similar projects, such as Google's blood glucose-detecting smart contact lenses — and failed.