C8 Medisensors has developed a non-invasive NIR CGM. They will first start selling it in Europe, and have started taking reservations for it there. They have also opened a facility in San Jose, California which I presume will be a manufacturing or final assembly and packaging location.
The NIR (near-infrared) method transmits low power light through the skin to reflect off glucose molecules. The concentration is then calculated by the receiver.
See the "Non-invasive Glucose Monitoring Explained" video on this page (and LOL at the suggestiveness at 1:11-1:19):
http://www.c8medisensors.com/experience/
Pros and Cons as I see them:
Pros
- Nothing poking in my skin! <--- this is a big one for me
- Won't hurt if it gets bumped
- No adhesive sticking to you (some people can't use existing CGMs due to skin reactions to the adhesive)
- No disposable sensors to buy (and fill up landfills later)
- Can take it off and put it back on any time
- Communicates via bluetooth to a smartphone app (finally a company that gets it!)
- Does not require calibration using a regular meter (so says their web site, not sure why not)
- Uses light, not electricity like the glucowatch did, so less likely to cause skin irritation
Cons
- Needs gel applied on skin under light source, so there are still supplies to buy
- Bulky, the belt carrier looks like a big girdle in the video
- Power hungry, requires big power cells (see: "Bulky", above)
- First available in Europe, could be a long time for the US (freaking FDA!)
- Supposed to be used in addition to, not as a replacement for a regular meter
- Info wasn't clear, but this is probably ISF, not serum glucose measurement (15 min lag time)