Data has been the key driver of 21st-century growth in so many parts of modern life, and better access to big data has also helped to drive an ongoing healthcare revolution.
In truth, this should come as no surprise. The human body is the most complex machine ever created – a system of 37.2 trillion cells operating in perfect harmony, most of the time – and the harnessing of its data outputs helps with everything from early disease detection to better lifestyle management.
A Healthier, Data-Driven Future
It’s a revolution driven in no small part by wearable technology, such as smart watches, medical health devices and fitness trackers. Deloitte Global estimated that 320 million health and wellness wearables shipped to consumers worldwide in 2022 and, by 2024, that number will rise to almost 440 million. The world’s appetite for personalized information has never been stronger.
“People want to know more about their genetic makeup and how their body is functioning,” says Matt Bates, Divisional Vice President of Research and Development within global healthcare company Abbott’s diabetes care business. “Look at the popularity of DNA tests and wearables – personalized data-driven insights are now within everyone’s grasp.”
Abbott has been at the forefront of the evolution of this type of technology, creating a new category called biowearables. Its first biowearables were developed to help those with diabetes monitor and manage their condition.
They are commonly called continuous glucose monitors (CGM) and comprise a small sensor worn on the arm, which constantly reads the body’s glucose levels, avoiding the need for routine fingerstick testing. The data is sent to an app on the user’s compatible smartphone so they can see if their glucose is in a healthy range or if they need to adjust their medicine or behavior, such as eating or exercise.
“It gives people ownership and control,” says Bates. “Rather than diabetes being in charge of them, they are in charge of diabetes and can now live a better life. I have literally had people embrace me when they found out I worked on this product. That’s the kind of difference a biowearable like FreeStyle Libre can make.”
How Biowearables Work
Biowearables have two main parts: a biosensor worn on the arm and the app that runs on a smartphone. Unlike wearables that sit on top of the skin and are limited in what can be measured, the biosensor has a flexible filament (approximately the width of three human hairs) that is painlessly inserted below the skin surface to measure biomarkers in the fluid around the body’s cells, providing precise data in real time.
Health tech companies are now exploring a new category of consumer biowearables designed for the general population to help them make decisions about their overall health and wellness. In its research, Abbott has identified a range of biomarkers such as lactate and ketones to monitor, as well as glucose. This data can offer a person deeper understanding of the impact of diet, exercise and lifestyle on their metabolic health and wellbeing.
Athletes See Gains With Biowearables
Based on the value CGMs have shown in the management of diabetes, the global healthcare company has used the technology for wider consumer use, launching a biowearable in Europe for the sports and fitness sector – the Libre Sense Glucose Sport Biosensor – in partnership with Supersapiens.
Early adopters are predominantly elite athletes, particularly endurance sports specialists who use it to make more informed decisions about how their training and eating affect their bodies.
Professional triathlete Skye Moench has been using the monitor since 2021 and believes that it could soon become a standard tool for athletes at all levels.
“I wear a sleep tracker, I wear a heart-rate monitor and, when I’m riding my bike, I have a power meter. My glucose monitor is another tool to help me train,” she says. “If I’ve gone through a hard session, for example, and haven’t generated the sort of power I needed, then I can look at my glucose data to see if that’s where the problem was. Was my glucose high enough? Or perhaps I took on a lot of carbs beforehand but then crashed mid-session, messing up my timing.”
Moench believes glucose monitoring could benefit everyone. It’s a view shared by Pam Nisevich Bede, a Registered Dietician at Abbott. She sees widespread adoption of biowearable technology as a catalyst for positive behavior change in the general population – so much so, the company is developing a consumer product line called Lingo. Just as activity monitors have encouraged many people to ensure that they walk 10,000 steps a day, biowearables might help encourage healthy behavior.
“For consumers, it's really understanding whether the foods that you’re eating and that you rely upon are moving you in the right direction. Are you feeling at your optimal best or could we fine tune it through data-led insights? It means people can own their health journey,” says Nisevich Bede.
Knowledge, as they say, is power. And the proactive feedback loop provided by biowearables puts that knowledge in the user’s hands, empowering them to have the information to make choices for a healthier life. This is enabling healthcare to be reshaped, one small sensor at a time.
A version of this article was originally produced by Abbott in collaboration with the Financial Times and was published on www.ft.com.
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