Know Labs is on a mission to produce the market’s first ever noninvasive glucose monitoring device. On Wednesday, it got one step closer.

The Seattle-based company unveiled the prototype for its non-invasive, portable glucose monitoring device. The device incorporates Know Labs’ proprietary body-radio frequency identification (Bio-RFID) technology — meaning its sensors deploy radio waves that travel through the skin to find and measure molecular signatures in the blood.

Know Labs is developing the device so patients with diabetes have a more convenient way to monitor their blood glucose levels.

“The current technologies are sufficient at measuring glucose but they’re certainly not optimal,” said Steve Kent, the company’s chief product officer, in a recent interview.

One of the most common ways that diabetic patients check their blood glucose level is by using a glucometer that requires finger pricks — such as the glucometers made by LifeScan and BD. But this task can be easy to forget, as well as relatively disruptive to daily activities, Kent pointed out. Additionally, most people aren’t too keen on needles.

Many diabetic patients use a continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) device instead. These small wearable devices can track a person’s blood glucose levels continuously throughout the day and night — rather than just one point in time, like glucometers. Some companies that sell these devices include Abbott, Dexcom and Medtronic.

“They’re really informative, but the problem with CGM is that they still break the skin and they are disposable. Just by the nature of being a medical device that breaks the skin and has adhesive, you have to replace it every 10 to 14 days depending on the type that you’re using. It is a big improvement on finger sticks, but it is still hard to access and not necessarily as affordable as it needs to be to make the biggest impact possible,” Kent argued.

Know Labs is trying to make continuous monitoring easier through its noninvasive sensing device that requires no disposable components, he declared.

The company’s noninvasive Bio-RFID technology has already shown its technical efficacy in measuring blood glucose levels in a lab environment. Now, Know Labs has deployed that technology into wearable and portable devices.

In Kent’s view, Know Lab’s device is quite the engineering feat. The company successfully scaled down all the capabilities of its research lab and incorporated them into a compact device, he explained.

This pocket-sized device boasts greater computing power than a typical desktop computer and includes integrated machine learning abilities, Kent declared. He also mentioned that it provides extended battery life and comprehensive configuration options to facilitate further development efforts.

In the next year, Know Labs will focus on external validation for its device. This will help the company figure out which changes it should make to its product before bringing it to the FDA and commercial market, Kent said.

Photo: Know Labs