What hardware do I need to develop a glucose monitoring app?

[pan]

Sorry for the amateur question. I'm an iOS developer and trying to replicate the functionality in the nRF51 sample app: github.com/.../IOS-nRF-Toolbox. I understand the code but I don't think I understand the hardware eleent.

I know I need an nRF51 and a S110 SoftDevice, at the very least. My questions are:

1. Does the S110 include a glucose monitoring hardware device?
2. What are the purposes of the above devices?
3. Is there a tutorial that can show me how to connect these to an iPhone?

Thanks so much in advance!

[shibshab]

• The nRF51 is a SoC (system on chip) with support for Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE). For your purpose it would be best to get hold of a development board, such as the PCA10028 so that you can easily flash it with firmware.
• The S110 SoftDevice is a piece of firmware for the nRF51 which implements the BLE protocol. You can call this a 'BLE operating system' for the nRF51.

In addition to these two items you will require the implementation of the Glucose Profile, found in the nRF51 SDK/examples/ble_peripheral/ble_app_gls

Here is a guide on how to get started working with the nRF51 SDK.

To successfully connect this profile with an iPhone you need to:

1. Flash the S11SoftDevice to the nRF51 device (most likely located on a development board)
2. Compile the Glucose Profile project from the nRF51 SDK.
3. Flash the Glucose Profile to the nRF51 device.

All Glucose related data are "mocked" in this project, that is, made up. It is for the developer to connect the nRF51 to an actual sensor in order to get useful data. For your purpose, however, the mocked data should be sufficient to test the iOS application.

[Eirik Midttun]

Hi pan,

Don't be sorry for asking questions. The short answer for your question is no, there is not glucose monitoring hardware available from Nordic. In general, what you get from Nordic is the SoC and the Bluetooth software for connectivity. As for S110, it is the generic part of Bluetooth LE protocol stack, so no profiles are implemented, those are part of the application.

I might be wrong on this, but glucose monitoring is pretty complex stuff, and probably not a product where you just buy a sensor and write an app. The main reason why the example is included, in think, is to allow companies that already have glucose monitoring technology to add Bluetooth connectivity. Beside, it is one of the profiles adopted by Bluetooth SIG, and those get implemented in the SDK once adopted.