UC San Diego CHARM Smart Ring Tracks Glucose Through Sweat
Glucose tracking may eventually be as simple as wearing a ring. UC San Diego researchers have developed CHARM, a smart ring prototype that reads glucose from sweat collected at the finger. Early human testing compared its estimates with commercial CGMs and blood-glucose meters to see whether a finger-worn device could follow glucose changes throughout the day. A ring could make glucose monitoring feel less intrusive and easier to fit into daily life if the technology proves reliable. CHARM collects sweat without a workout CHARM does not need you to work up a sweat. According to UC San Diego, a soft hydrogel inside the ring passively draws tiny amounts of fluid from the skin. A small channel carries the sweat across sensors that detect glucose. Glucose in sweat is not the same as a blood-glucose reading. Researchers use personalized calibration to estimate corresponding blood-glucose levels, then CHARM sends the data wirelessly to a phone. People familiar with wearables for blood sugar tracking will recognize the app-connected setup. Battery life reaches about 12 hours in the current …
