Diagnostics Without the Appointment

This week we cover a glucose monitor for children, a visual field test you sit through in a VR headset, and a bathroom scale that reads 60 biomarkers in 90 seconds.

Amrit Bance

6 min read

This week we cover a glucose monitor for children, a visual field test you sit through in a VR headset, and a bathroom scale that reads 60 biomarkers in 90 seconds.

No Prescription Required

The FDA has cleared the first over-the-counter continuous glucose monitor for children. Dexcom's Stelo is now indicated for ages two and up who do not use insulin. It reads glucose every 15 minutes, and sends data to your phone. It does not alert for dangerous lows and is not for anyone on insulin, which is exactly the group most people picture when they hear "glucose monitor". For pre-diabetic children and families trying to see what sugar actually does to them, this is new ground.

Glaucoma Testing, Gamified

ZEISS Medical Technology has partnered with Envision Health Technologies to move glaucoma visual field testing into a VR headset, swapping the bulky, stationary perimetry machine for something portable and gamified. Patients supposedly find the standard test tedious, so making it feel less like an eye exam and more like a game is interesting. One honest caveat: this is a collaboration to develop future tools, and ZEISS is clear that availability and regulatory approval will vary by market. So it is a direction of travel, not a thing you can book next week. If the test feels like a game, will more people actually book one? Personally, we don’t think the current visual field test is that ‘tedious’. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.

The Scale That Thinks It's a Clinic

Withings BodyScan 2 is a scale that reads more than 60 biomarkers in roughly 90 seconds, including a 6-lead ECG and a 6-zone body composition breakdown, all shown on a retractable handle with its own colour screen. The 6-lead ECG is the part worth noticing: more detail than the single-lead reading on your smartwatch, which makes spotting atrial fibrillation at home a more credible prospect. Whether anyone needs 60 biomarkers before breakfast is a more personal question. It costs £449.95, so you really need to ask yourself if you will do anything with the data it provides.

More data, we want more!

There is a big surge in pushing measurements out of the clinic and into the hands of the general public. More data, less professional interpretation sitting next to it. Are we about to become a generation of amateur diagnosticians with very good gadgets and no one to speak to? At least trying new gadgets is fun. Catch you next week.

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