Abbott Lingo 'biowearable' will debut in first half of 2023
Medical grade ‘biowearables’ that track metrics under the skin will be the next revolution in consumer wearable tech.
That’s according to Abbott’s Lindsy Delco, Senior Director at Abbott, ahead of the launch of Lingo, its consumer-skewed continuous glucose monitor (CGM).
Abbott may not be a household name, but the company pioneered CGMs, which brought the idea of connected fitness tracking to tracking glucose for diabetes.
The company is about to launch a general wellness CGM called Lingo, not aimed at diabetics, but those interested in how glucose affects their bodies.
“We see biowearables as that next evolution of health tech,” Delco told Wareable. “They’re actually tracking biomarkers that are in your body.”
Wareable
The Abbott Lingo was announced back at CES 2022, and we’ve not heard much since. But Delco says the company will launch Lingo in the first half of 2023 in Europe.
Like CGMs aimed at diabetics, Lingo will use a replaceable patch, which connects to your smartphone, via an app.
> Glucose monitoring wearables explained
The patch puts tiny filaments under the skin, which enables Lingo to examine biomarkers in your body.
“96% of people say they don’t even feel it. The part that goes under your skin is a flexible filament. It’s only the width of three human hairs and so you don’t even notice it,” Delco explained.
Once in place, it will keep track of biomarkers, such as glucose – but Delco says that the company is exploring versions of Lingo that track ketones or lactate. Those could be of more interest to those dieting, managing energy levels, or recovering from hard workouts or endurance events.
Aside from pioneering work for diabetes, Abbott already has experience in the lifestyle wellness space. Its Libre Sense CGM is used by Supersapiens, which is aimed at performance athletes, and designed to help them fuel and recover.
Wareable
“Lingo going to be a line of biowearables. The first step is going to be glucose via wearable so it will be aimed at everyday people that are interested in ‘Why do I feel sluggish at 3pm?’ and ‘Why am I not sleeping well?’”
“We’re giving the user information about what’s happening in your body,” Delco continued.
And she says that the analysis will also be different from the general, non-individual advice that is often offered up by current-generation wearables.
“This is not going to be a blanket one size fits all sort of read on what you should be doing. We’re aiming to improve your health sleep or energy,” Delco explained.
We’re signed up to test Lingo when it’s released – and we’ll bring you full details on the features when it lands later this year.
James is the co-founder of Wareable, and he has been a technology journalist for 15 years.
He started his career at Future Publishing, James became the features editor of T3 Magazine and T3.com and was a regular contributor to TechRadar – before leaving Future Publishing to found Wareable in 2014.
James has been at the helm of Wareable since 2014 and has become one of the leading experts in wearable technologies globally. He has reviewed, tested, and covered pretty much every wearable on the market, and is passionate about the evolving industry, and wearables helping people achieve healthier and happier lives.
