This week, the US Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) approved the first at-home, needle less system for continuously monitoring glucose for people with diabetes. The system, called FreeStyle Libre Flash, and manufactured by the DC-based Abbott Laboratories, allows users to forgo finger-pricking for up to 10 days at a time.

The Free style libre Flash is essentially a small, circular plastic sensor that sits on top of the skin and detects blood sugar from a small wire that goes under the skin beneath the sensor. People can insert themselves using an applicator that works sort of like a rubber stamp.

Once people have applied the sensor on their arms, they can wave a mobile device a little smaller than a smartphone in front of it to read glucose levels. It takes about 12 hours for the wire to become adjusted to the person’s body, but afterward the device takes continuous data that tracks blood sugar over time for over a week. Afterward, the sensor can be peeled off slowly, and a new one can be applied.