Against the backdrop of a continuously growing global diabetic population, glucose management has become key to improving patients' quality of life and preventing complications. While traditional finger-pokes blood glucose measurements are effective, their intermittent and invasive nature often falls short of meeting the demands of precise glucose management. Continuous Glucose Monitoring (CGM) systems, as advanced non-invasive or minimally invasive monitoring technologies, enable real-time tracking of glucose fluctuations. They provide patients and healthcare professionals with comprehensive glucose trend data, thereby optimizing insulin therapy and reducing the risks of hypoglycemia and hyperglycemia. This article explores the challenges posed by diabetes in modern society, the technological advantages and application scenarios of CGM systems, and the related solutions offered by onsemi.
Diabetes has become a global health issue
Diabetes is a common disease among modern populations and has emerged as a global health concern. It leads to numerous complications, such as cardiovascular diseases, nephropathy, and retinopathy, placing a heavy burden on public health. Diabetes can be categorized into three main types: Type 1 Diabetes (T1D), Type 2 Diabetes (T2D), and Gestational Diabetes Mellitus (GDM). Among these, T2D is the most prevalent and is associated with unhealthy dietary habits, lack of exercise, obesity, and genetic factors. T1D, on the other hand, is an autoimmune disorder primarily affecting younger individuals. GDM is characterized by glucose intolerance first diagnosed during pregnancy, typically in the second trimester (weeks 24–28). Although some women may return to normal glucose levels postpartum, GDM can increase health risks for both mother and child and elevate the likelihood of developing T2D in the future.
T1D is an autoimmune condition where the immune system attacks pancreatic β-cells, resulting in a complete loss of insulin production. Patients require lifelong insulin therapy to maintain stable blood glucose levels. T1D often manifests in children or adolescents (though adults can also be affected), with symptoms appearing rapidly, including frequent urination, thirst, weight loss, and fatigue. Since it cannot be managed through diet or exercise alone, insulin injections are essential. T2D, however, stems from factors like obesity, poor diet, sedentary lifestyle, family history, and high stress, making it possible to manage through lifestyle changes or medication.
Management of T1D involves insulin therapy (subcutaneous injections or insulin pumps), continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) or blood glucose testing, dietary management (carbohydrate counting), and regular exercise (with adjustments to insulin dosage).
Diabetes is an escalating global health issue. While T1D accounts for a smaller proportion of cases, its impact on patients is profound. Advances in insulin therapy, glucose monitoring, and technology have gradually improved the quality of life for T1D patients, and future breakthroughs may offer even more advanced treatments or preventive measures.
Since T1D predominantly affects children and adolescents, young patients must endure the challenges, hardships, and emotional toll of the disease. The fear of the unknown can cause significant anxiety for both patients and their families.
Continuous glucose monitors provide real-time glucose readings
Although the exact cause of T1D remains unclear, it is a condition where the body cannot produce insulin - a vital hormone for survival. During digestion, carbohydrates are broken down into sugar molecules, but without insulin, these molecules cannot be absorbed. Insulin moves sugar (glucose) from the bloodstream into cells for energy. Excess glucose in the blood, typically exceeding 200 mg/dL, leads to hyperglycemia. If left unmanaged, hyperglycemia can cause life-threatening complications such as kidney failure, nerve damage, vision loss, or heart disease.
Conversely, factors like physical activity can lower blood glucose levels. Abnormally low glucose levels (usually below 70 mg/dL) are termed hypoglycemia, which can lead to arrhythmias, cardiac arrest, organ failure, coma, or even death.
Imagine an eight-year-old boy with T1D - perhaps eating and playing vigorously - attending school without his family being aware of his condition. The child and school staff, unaware of how to manage this chronic disease, would face immense anxiety.
CGM systems are sensor-based body worn devices that provide continuous glucose readings and enable remote monitoring. These devices allow parents to track their child’s glucose levels in real time, offering peace of mind regardless of the child’s environment, day or night. Additionally, children regain the freedom of childhood without the need for frequent finger pokes using old-school blood glucose meters (BGMs). On average, a person tests their glucose levels 3–8 times daily (depending on carbohydrate intake), amounting to 2,352 finger pokes annually - a daunting number for small fingers.
As of 2021, 537 million people aged 20–79 worldwide were diagnosed with T1D. By 2030, this number is projected to rise to 643 million. This underscores the critical need for medical manufacturers to have access to the most advanced and reliable solutions.
Advanced continuous glucose monitoring solutions
To improve the lives of children with diabetes, onsemi provides medical device manufacturers with comprehensive microelectronic system solutions for CGM devices, enabling diabetic children to live happier, longer, and more fulfilling lives - free from the fear of the unknown.
onsemi’s Treo platform supports next-generation analog and mixed-signal devices, including state-of-the-art CGM solutions. The Treo platform features a modular architecture that accelerates the development of intelligent power management, sensor interfaces, and communication solutions.
onsemi’s electrochemical sensor AFE - the CEM102 - is an analog front-end (AFE) specifically designed for ultra-low-power continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) and similar applications requiring amperometric measurements of extremely low currents. Its small form factor and low power consumption enable further miniaturization of end applications and extended battery life. The CEM102 is designed to work with onsemi’s RSL15 (a secure Bluetooth® 5.2 wireless MCU), offering additional system-level benefits such as optimized power consumption and operating voltage. This includes operation across a wide supply voltage range of 1.3 to 3.6 V, typically using a single 1.5 V silver oxide battery or 3 V coin cell.
The CEM102 is a fully 2 channel electrochemical measurement solution (CEM102 + RSL15) supporting 1, 2, 3, or 4 electrodes, with ultra-low system current consumption, a built-in high-resolution ADC, several DACs for bias settings and factory trimmed system, and support for detecting abnormal sensor conditions and host processor wake-up. Its small footprint makes it ideal for applications such as CGMs, IoT sensor devices, and wearables.
To expedite product development, onsemi also offers the CEM102 evaluation board - CEM102-EVB. This board serves as a software development kit for evaluating the CEM102’s performance and functionality, as well as for developing, demonstrating, and debugging software applications for the device. In addition to the CEM102, it includes the RSL15 and sample code for setting up and performing measurements, facilitating a jump start of system and firmware development.
The CEM102-EVB is a complete 2-channel electrochemical measurement solution, enabling flexible self-diagnostics, calibration, and production testing (with customer PCBs). It supports self-measurement of electrode polarization voltage and calibration circuit deviations, features a TIA amplifier with internal and external feedback circuits, and setting measurement accuracy, linearity, and dynamic range, and includes low-power storage and working modes with power consumption measurements for each.
Wireless MCU designed for smart connected devices in industrial and medical applications
onsemi’s RSL15 is an ultra-low-power, secure BLE 5.2 wireless MCU based on the Arm® Cortex®-M33 processor, designed for connected smart devices in industrial and medical applications. The RSL15 features integrated power management, a wide supply voltage range, flexible GPIO and clocking schemes, and an extensive set of peripherals, offering maximum design flexibility for high-performance and ultra-low-power applications. The RSL15 includes 80 kB of RAM and offers flash memory options of 284 kB or 512 kB.
The RSL15 comes with a comprehensive and user-friendly software development kit (SDK), including drivers, libraries, sample code, development tools, and mobile apps (RSL Central for iOS® and Android™, and RSL FOTA for iOS and Android). Development environments supported include the onsemi IDE, Keil μVision®, and IAR Embedded Workbench®.
The RSL15 is suitable for applications such as industrial automation and sensing, connected medical sensors, wearables, asset tracking, electronic tags and access control, electronic labels, data loggers, smart appliances, and energy-harvesting switches.
The RSL15 also offers an evaluation/development board (EVB) - the RSL15-EVB - designed for use with the RSL15 SDK to evaluate the device’s performance and functionality, as well as to developing, demonstrating, and debugging software applications.
Conclusion
The advancement of Continuous Glucose Monitoring (CGM) systems has revolutionized diabetes management, enabling patients to monitor glucose levels in real time, optimize insulin therapy, and reduce the risks of acute and chronic complications. With ongoing improvements in sensing technology, artificial intelligence, and wireless communication, CGMs are becoming more accurate, convenient, and capable of seamless data integration, paving the way for smarter personalized healthcare solutions. As technology progresses and market adoption grows, CGMs are poised to become the standard tool for diabetes management. onsemi’s solutions will play a pivotal role in accelerating CGM product development, fostering a healthier and safer future for diabetic patients worldwide.