Recently, Ultrahuman announced that their Series B funding raised $17.5M to help roll out their wearable glucose tracking system. What challenges does glucose present, what does Ultrahuman do, and how will such sensors help with long-term health?

Why is glucose a challenge for world health?

Despite modern supermarkets having a wide range of different types of food, keeping healthy seems to be an increasingly more difficult challenge. Some might argue that social pressures to stay healthy have faded away, while others would say that the cost of unhealthy foods is far lower than healthy foods.

However, it is most likely that the increase in obesity and other related health issues directly results from food availability and lack of exercise. Evidence of this can be seen in the gradual increase of obesity in the last hundred years; as food became cheaper and more available, rates of obesity increased. To add to this, jobs have moved away from manual labour, and the introduction of machinery and automated systems has led to less physical movement.

Sugar is a particular problem for health services as it is arguably more dangerous than fat. While fat and cholesterol can increase the risk of heart attack and strokes, sugar can kill extremely fast if not adequately managed by the body. To see this in action, someone with type 1 diabetes simply needs to refrain from using their insulin and eat a chocolate bar. As their body struggles to cope with the elevated sugar levels, the individual would go through hypoglycaemia, slip into a coma, and then death would follow.

Worse, it can be hard to tell if your body cannot cope with its current sugar intake over short periods. Those vulnerable to developing diabetes can prevent it by changing their diet and monitoring sugar levels, but finding this out requires blood testing and monitoring.

Ultrahuman announces Series B funding

Ultrahuman is a company that focuses on improving human health by developing exercise regimes based on health and data tracking. Their glucose monitoring device, called the Ultrahuman Cyborg, is a wearable glucose monitor stuck onto the skin and wirelessly sends readings to an app on a smartphone.

The sensor itself can extract sugar from under the skin that can directly relate to blood sugar levels. This technology has been used by professionals in the sports industry for years. This data is continually gathered, and from there, the app logs the sugar content and recommends different exercise regimes based on that data.

Recently, Ultrahuman announced that it had entered into Series B funding to help push the product further into full-scale production and raised over $17.5M. Investors for Ultrahuman include Alpha Wave Incubation, Steadview Capital, and Nexus Venture Partners, and the total investment into Ultrahuman from all funding stages now stands at $25M.

How can sensors help long-term?

Of all the capabilities of continuous glucose monitors, it is the ability to read this data in real-time while eating that could be most beneficial. When eating food, blood sugar levels change (typically rise), and the amount at which it rises and how it falls afterwards indicates the body’s ability to handle sugar.

The device and app developed by Ultrahuman could therefore show people how different foods change their blood sugar levels and warn about the potential development of diabetes. Thus, preventing diabetes would not only save limbs and eyesight but also many hundreds of thousands of lives that are lost to the disease.

Continue glucose monitors can also be highly advantageous for those who have severe cases of diabetes. Regular blood sugar readings are required by those with a severe condition, but a continuous monitor could be potentially tied with AI to detect early signs of a diabetic attack. Therefore, the quality of life for those with diabetes could be seriously improved with such systems.