iHealth Lab’s new app-enabled glucose monitor brings Apple-like sleekness to diabetics

IHealth Labs’s new glucose monitor doesn’t look like a medical device — and that’s exactly the point.

The tiny device, dubbed the “Wireless Smart Gluco-Monitoring System,” measures and records user’s glucose levels, making it invaluable for managing diseases like diabetes and prediabetes.

But while designing glucometers tends to result in devices that look like this, iHealth Labs’ device almost looks like it could have been designed by Apple. Why?

As iHealth Labs president Adam Lin told me, making medical devices look like consumer electronics is core to his company’s mission to make an end-to-end health tracking system that’s not only approachable, but also encourages users to take and keep track of readings.

The need for devices like this one is hard to overstate. 25 million people (eight percent of the population) in the United States have diabetes, and heart disease remains the largest cause of death in the country.

As a result, hospitals and insurers are constantly looking for ways to make it easier for patients to keep track of their own medical data — all in the hopes that doing so will help improve patients’ health.

Alongside the glucose monitor, iHealth Labs also offers a smartphone app, which lets users better track their levels from day-to-day. Via the app, users can also share their readings with doctors and family members.

“Understanding these vitals is more than one reading — you need to look at the snapshots over time, too,” Lin said.

iHealth Labs’s mission makes it a kindred spirit with Best Buy, which is signing on as a retail partner for the new glucose monitor. IHealth Labs also plans to announce a partnership with “a leading national drug retail chain” in the near future as well.