Implantable CGM and epidural glucose sensing toward combined metabolic–neural interfaces

• Paul Goode (Glucotrack) is developing an active, fully implantable continuous glucose monitor (CGM) for long-term, pacemaker-style reliability without external wearables.¹
• First-in-human progress has been reported; implantables may change diabetes care at home.¹
• Initial short animal tests showed continuous glucose measurement in the epidural space; a follow-up multi-month study delivered stable results.¹
• Epidural placement matches CGM performance with the sensor on top of the dura mater.¹
• Similar chemistry and form factors could be adapted to pair with neural recording electrodes to capture metabolic and neural data together, supporting closed-loop and chronic-implant narratives.^{1 1}

Weekly enrichment (2026-07-20)

• Glucotrack’s (Nasdaq: GCTK) device is a fully implantable continuous blood glucose monitor (CBGM) placed in the subclavian vein — the first CBGM to measure glucose directly in blood rather than in interstitial fluid.²³
• It is designed for three-year sensor longevity with no on-body wearable component and minimal calibration, transmitting data via Bluetooth to a smartphone.²⁴
• The first-in-human study ran at the Instituto do Coração in São Paulo, Brazil (December 13, 2024 to January 31, 2025) and enrolled 10 participants with Type 1 or Type 2 diabetes on intensive insulin therapy.⁵
• The short in-hospital study (about 4–5 days) met its primary endpoint with no procedure- or device-related serious adverse events through 7 days post-removal; insertion and removal were performed by interventional cardiologists using percutaneous technique.²⁵
• Reported Mean Absolute Relative Difference (MARD) was 7.7%, comparable to leading commercial CGMs, with results presented at the American Diabetes Association scientific sessions.⁴³
• Implantation is a roughly 20-minute outpatient procedure about two inches into the subclavian vein (pacemaker-like); the battery is integrated and non-rechargeable, with quoted complication rates around 1% or lower.³
• The company targeted an FDA Investigational Device Exemption (IDE) filing (Q4 2025), a one-year follow-up study in Australia, and a pivotal trial by the end of 2026; the CBGM remains an investigational device not yet FDA-approved.⁵⁴
• On the neural-interface angle, the same three-electrode potentiostat glucose-sensing chemistry showed stable multi-month epidural glucose measurement atop the dura and could integrate into spinal cord stimulator (SCS) platforms or pair with neural recording electrodes for combined metabolic–neural data.¹

Footnotes

1. https://neuralimplantpodcast.com/paul-goode-implantable-glucose-monitoringand-a-neural-interface-twist ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷

2. https://glucotrack.com/glucotrack-announces-successful-completion-of-its-first-human-clinical-study-of-continuous-blood-glucose-monitor/ ↩ ↩² ↩³

3. https://www.mddionline.com/diabetes/first-in-human-trial-bodes-well-for-fully-implantable-continuous-blood-glucose-monitor ↩ ↩² ↩³

4. https://www.drugdeliverybusiness.com/glucotrack-explains-3-year-cbgm-implant/ ↩ ↩² ↩³

5. https://glucotrack.com/glucotrack-to-file-significant-ide-with-fda-for-us-clinical-trial-in-early-q2-based-on-critical-2025-milestones/ ↩ ↩² ↩³