Technology for Diabetes that you can’t get yet: 1. Afon Non-Invasive glucose monitoring

Adobe Technology. Who are they? According to their website (https://www.afontechnology.com):

Afon Technology has the single focus of commercialising a wearable, non-invasive blood glucose monitor.

About Afon

Afon Technology is a small company based in Wales that has been solely focused on creating a non-invasive continuous glucose monitor since 2015.

Dr Sabih Chaudry is the driving force behind the concept and also the founder of the company.

The product

Afon state the following with respect to what they are producing:

No needles! The Afon device does not break your skin
Sensor sits on the inside of your wrist and communicates via Bluetooth with companion app on your chosen smart device
Sensor is independent of your watch or operating system – it can be worn with any or no watch
Companion app alerts you to high/low glucose
Real time information
Continuous monitoring and data logging
No replaceable parts – less wastage
Pain-free

That sums up what they’re trying to achieve very nicely.

According to previous press releases, the sensor uses microwave technology to measure glucose levels.

And what of the results? We’ll, let’s start by saying that it’s sometimes hard to find any information relating to Afon. What we know is that back in 2020 they’d run clinical trials with the Profil centre that resulted in outcomes similar to first gen invasive devices.

More recently, they released the below tweet:

They’re also presenting at ATTD2022, and have announced that they have received ethical approval for further clinical trials, suggesting that results have improved and are worth going forward with.

Will it get to market?

Let’s look at what we have:

  • They’ve released images of the sensor
  • They’ve undertaken tests at Profil
  • They’re willing to publish results at ATTD
  • They have (presumed) funding and approval for further clinical trials
  • They’ve recently moved to larger premises including a pilot production line

This seems positive. They’ve been at it a while, and had intended to release something commercial in the last couple of years, but if the results are good and they can manufacture them at a sensible cost, then potentially this one could come to market.

It would be great to see technology innovation like this, stemming from the UK, becoming commercially successful.

Let’s keep our fingers crossed on what’s being published at ATTD2020

1 Comment

  1. Great post. If Afon can pull this off, it will be amazing. Was reading today about a little kid getting infections at his CGM site. Once you are used to the continuous nature of CGM, it’s hard to walk away from it. But non-invasive would mean no infections, so problem solved…

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