With the increasing prevalence of diabetes and growing awareness of health management, blood glucose monitoring technology is rapidly evolving. Among these advancements, Continuous Glucose Monitors (CGM) have become a critical tool for diabetes management. Compared to traditional fingerstick testing, CGMs provide real-time, continuous tracking of glucose trends, offering more comprehensive data to help patients and healthcare professionals make timely decisions. This article explores the development trends of CGMs and the solutions offered by onsemi.
CGM is a key driver for personalized health management and smart healthcare
Continuous Glucose Monitors (CGMs) are used for continuous blood glucose monitoring in diabetic patients and are currently a popular healthcare application product. To improve monitoring efficiency and user experience, modern CGMs are evolving toward miniaturization, intelligence, non-invasiveness, and integration with mobile devices. However, challenges such as data accuracy, wearability comfort, and data privacy remain. Therefore, developing more advanced sensing technologies and integrated solutions will be crucial in advancing personalized health management and smart healthcare.
CGMs are becoming increasingly compact. Compared to traditional CGM devices that require subcutaneous needles and are bulky, newer wearable devices offer smaller, lighter, and more comfortable designs. The latest products focus on miniaturization and high-comfort materials, such as compact, all-in-one sensor designs that can be attached to the arm or abdomen, with wear times extending from 7–10 days to 14 days or longer.
Traditional CGMs require skin penetration to measure glucose in interstitial fluid, while emerging technologies aim for needle-free monitoring using non-invasive methods such as optical sensing (near-infrared, Raman spectroscopy), sweat, tear, or interstitial fluid sensing, as well as microfluidic technology and nanosensor integration. Although not yet fully commercialized, some prototypes are in clinical trials.
Additionally, modern CGM devices often support Bluetooth connectivity, enabling synchronization with smartphone apps for real-time data display and recording. Data can be uploaded to the cloud for remote monitoring and analysis by patients, doctors, and family members. Furthermore, CGMs can integrate AI algorithms to predict glucose trends, issue alerts, and provide dietary or insulin dosage recommendations.
CGMs are also the core sensing component of Artificial Pancreas systems, which can integrate with insulin pumps for automated management. Several automated insulin delivery systems combining CGMs and insulin pumps are already available, adjusting insulin release in real-time based on glucose levels to significantly reduce hypoglycemia and hyperglycemia risks.
With data moving to the cloud, patient privacy and cybersecurity requirements are increasing. Products must comply with medical device regulations (e.g., FDA, CE) and support healthcare data standards such as FHIR and HIPAA.
Originally designed for Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes patients, CGMs are now expanding into preventive medicine and health monitoring for the general population, including athletes' training and nutrition management, metabolic syndrome prevention, and early diabetes detection.
CGMs are transitioning from traditional medical use to becoming essential tools for smart health management. Future CGMs will evolve toward greater intelligence, non-invasiveness, connectivity, and integration, playing a pivotal role in precision medicine and personalized health.
A compact, multifunctional solution for advanced medical wearables
onsemi’s CEM102 is an advanced miniaturized Analog Front-End (AFE) that enables electrochemical sensing with the highest accuracy at very low currents. With its small form factor and industry-leading low power consumption, it allows engineers to develop versatile and compact solutions for industrial, environmental, and healthcare applications, such as air and gas detection, food processing, agricultural monitoring, and medical wearables like CGMs.
From life and environmental sciences to industrial materials and food processing, the ability to measure chemical compositions provides deeper insights, enhancing safety, efficiency, and awareness. In laboratories, mining operations, and material manufacturing, electrochemical sensors (e.g., potentiostats or corrosion sensors) serve as critical tools for providing feedback in production systems and managing hazardous substances, ensuring both process efficiency and personnel safety.
Thanks to its ultra-compact size and extremely low power consumption, the CEM102 is ideal for battery-powered electrochemical sensor applications. Industrial safety equipment, such as portable gas detectors, can alert workers to potential hazards in remote or mobile environments.
The CEM102 is designed to work with the Bluetooth® 5.2-enabled RSL15 microcontroller, which offers the industry’s lowest-power Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) technology. As a complete electronic solution, it enables biosensors and environmental sensors to accurately measure chemical currents while operating at ultra-low system power consumption and a wide supply voltage range. The seamless integration of these two components, combined with their compact size and industry-leading power efficiency, plays a crucial role in miniaturizing devices and ensuring long-lasting functionality - essential for battery-powered solutions.
This combined solution is part of onsemi’s analog and mixed-signal portfolio, designed to streamline development and drive innovation in next-generation amperometric sensor technology. It provides designers with optimal flexibility to create high-performance, energy-efficient, and interconnected applications. Additionally, the solution offers superior accuracy, noise reduction, and lower power consumption compared to alternatives. It also simplifies the Bill of Materials (BoM), eases calibration, and reduces manufacturing complexity.
Designed for CGM and low-current sensing applications
The CEM102 electrochemical sensor AFE is specifically developed for Continuous Glucose Monitoring (CGM) and other amperometric applications requiring ultra-low current sensing. Its compact size and low power consumption enable further miniaturization and extended battery life for end applications. The system operates across a wide supply voltage range of 1.3 V to 3.6 V, supporting 1.5 V silver oxide or 3 V coin cell batteries. In disabled mode, power consumption is just 50 nA; in sensor-biased mode, it consumes 2 µA; and in active measurement mode with the 18-bit ADC continuously converting, it draws 3.5 µA. This translates to market-leading battery life - 14 days with a 3 mAh battery or several years with larger batteries.
The CEM102 is a complete two-channel electrochemical measurement solution (system-level) that pairs with onsemi’s RSL15 (a secure Bluetooth® 5.2 wireless MCU), delivering additional system-level benefits such as optimized power consumption and supply voltage operation. It supports 1 to 4 electrodes, features extremely low system current consumption, and accommodates two battery voltage options (1.3–1.65 V or 2.375–3.6 V). It includes a high-resolution ADC, multiple DACs for continuous bias setting, a factory-trimmed system, and host processor wake-up upon abnormal sensor detection. Its compact 1.884 x 1.848 mm package makes it ideal for CGM systems, IoT sensor devices, and wearables.
onsemi also offers the CEM102-EVB evaluation board, which is used to evaluate the performance and capabilities of the CEM102 and for developing, demonstrating and debugging software applications for this device. In addition to the CEM102, it also includes the RSL15 and sample code for setting up and performing measurements with the CEM102, accelerating system and firmware development. The CEM102-EVB supports flexible self-diagnostics, calibration, and production testing (with customer PCB), self-measurement of electrode polarization voltage and calibration circuit deviation, and TIA amplifiers with internal/external feedback circuits. It measures accuracy, linearity, and dynamic range, operates at low power in both storage and working modes, and allows power consumption measurement for each mode.
A Bluetooth wireless MCU for connected smart devices
onsemi's RSL15 is an ultra-low-power, secure Bluetooth 5.2 wireless MCU based on the Arm® Cortex®-M33 processor, designed specifically for connected smart devices in industrial and medical applications. The RSL15 features built-in power management, supports a wide voltage range, flexible GPIO and clock scheme, and offers a rich set of peripherals, providing maximum design flexibility for high-performance and ultra-low-power applications. It comes equipped with 80 KB of RAM and offers flash memory options of 284 KB or 512 KB.
The RSL15 also includes a comprehensive and user-friendly software development kit (SDK) that contains drivers, libraries, sample code, development tools, and mobile apps (RSL Central for iOS® and Android™, as well as RSL FOTA for iOS and Android). The development environment supports onsemi IDE, Keil µVision®, and IAR Embedded Workbench®.
onsemi additionally provides the RSL15-EVB evaluation and development board, which works with the RSL15 SDK to evaluate the performance and features of the RSL15, as well as for developing, demonstrating, and debugging software applications for this device.
The RSL15-EVB includes the RSL15 wireless MCU, equipped with 512 kB of flash memory. It features onboard SEGGER® J-Link® technology for easy code downloading and debugging, and the JTAG debug port is accessible via a 10-pin header. The board supports automatic switching between battery and USB power. All RSL15 interfaces and GPIOs are accessible through standard 0.1-inch headers. It has two push-button switches: one is used to reset the device via the NRESET pin, and the other is connected to a GPIO. Test points and a GND hooks are provided for convenient probing. The board uses a CR2032 battery holder compatible with standard 3.0V CR2032 batteries. Power measurement setup is straightforward. It integrates a PCB antenna with matching and filtering networks, and a UFL connector is available for RF conduction connections. When powered via USB, the 5V voltage is regulated down to 3.0V by an onboard voltage regulator. External power can be connected through headers on the circuit board.
Conclusion
Continuous Glucose Monitors are rapidly advancing toward smarter, less intrusive, and more integrated solutions, becoming indispensable in diabetes and chronic disease management. Innovations - from invasive to non-invasive methods, from standalone monitoring to AI and cloud analytics - are improving accuracy, real-time capabilities, and user quality of life. The onsemi solutions discussed here deliver advanced sensing technology, higher data security standards, and interoperability with other health devices, driving CGMs from medical use into personalized preventive medicine and enabling comprehensive, proactive health management.