Abbott, a medical equipment company based in the United States, is expanding into consumer biosensing wearables. Abbott has been making continuous glucose monitor (CGM) hardware for diabetes management for years (since 2014), but in a health tech keynote at CES yesterday, chairman and CEO Robert B. Ford announced that the company is working on a new line of consumer bio wearables called Lingo that will be used for more general fitness and wellness.
During his keynote, he added, “Technology provides us the capacity to digitize, decentralize, and democratize healthcare, create a shared language between you and your doctor — and put more control of your health in your hands.” “We’re building a future where you and your loved ones will receive more personalized and accurate care. It is taking place right now. And its potential is nothing short of amazing.”
The Lingo sensing technology is being developed to measure “key signals” in the body, such as glucose, ketones, and lactate, according to Ford, who added that it might use to track alcohol levels in the future. Last year, the business released the Libre Sense Glucose Sport Biowearable iii, a biosensor built for athletes that made available in Europe and has been utilized by marathon world-record holder Eliud Kipchoge to support his training needs.
Abbott’s goal with Lingo is to make glucose monitoring more accessible to people who want to lose weight, sleep better, have more energy, and think more clearly. It claimed it is developing the biosensor to assess other biomarkers besides glucose to enable this extended usage. In a news release, the business started, “A ketone biowearable is being created to detect ketones continually, observe how fast you are entering into ketosis, and understand exactly what maintains you thereby providing insights on dieting and weight reduction.”
“A lactate biowearable is being developed to monitor continuous lactate build-up during exercise, which can be utilized as a performance indicator.” In recent years, a slew of startups in the United States, Europe, and Asia have attempted to commercialize CGM hardware — including Abbott’s existing sensors — for a variety of non-medical uses, launching real-time blood glucose tracking services aimed at at fitness enthusiasts, dieters, and other health-conscious consumers.
Abbott’s fast entry into the market implies it sees a lot of potentials for biosensing consumer devices to become ubiquitous. Check out TechCrunch’s review of Ultrahuman’s Cyborg service, an Indian-based startup that’s repurposing current-gen sensing hardware made by Abbott, for a detailed look at what it’s like to live with a CGM biosensor attached to your arm — and the constantly updating window into biological processes that it provides.
