For decades, medical technology firms have searched for ways to let diabetics check blood sugar easily, with scant success.

Now, the world’s largest mobile technology firms are getting in on the act, reports The Straits Times.

Apple Inc, Samsung Electronics Co and Google Inc, searching for applications that could turn nascent wearable technology like smartwatches and bracelets from curiosities into must-have items, have all set their sites on monitoring blood sugar, several people familiar with the plans say.

These firms are variously hiring medical scientists and engineers, asking US regulators about oversight and developing glucose-measuring features in future wearable devices, the sources said.

The first round of technology may be limited, but eventually the companies could compete in a global blood-sugar tracking market worth over US$12 billion by 2017, according to research firm GlobalData.

BDST: 2025 HRS, JUNE 23, 2014