Apple is reportedly developing non-invasive sensors to monitor blood sugar levels, according to CNBC. The product would be a medical breakthrough, described as a “holy grail for life sciences,” and was envisioned by the late Apple co-founder Steve Jobs, who passed away in 2003 from pancreatic cancer.

If created, the sensors would provide a non-invasive way for diabetics to continuously monitor their blood sugar levels without pricking their skin.

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More than 29 million people in the United States alone have diabetes. Photo courtesy of Pixabay

Development has reportedly been going on for at least 5 years; however, this doesn’t mean you’ll be seeing this feature on your Apple Watch anytime soon.

“There is a cemetery full of efforts” to measure glucose levels in a non-invasive way, DexCom chief executive Terrance Gregg told Reuters in 2014. A successful innovation would require “several hundred million dollars or even a billion dollars.”

The current method for diabetics to regularly check their glucose involves self-testing their blood through a finger prick. The number of times you need to test your blood per day depends on the type of diabetes you have and your treatment plan. If you have type 1 diabetes, you may need to check up to 8 times a day, according to Mayo Clinic.

This innovation has the potential to benefit millions of people around the globe. About 387 million people have diabetes worldwide and it's expected to increase to more than half a billion by the year 2035, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

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