For drivers with diabetes, a dashboard glucose gauge that could prevent accidents is one step closer to reality. Fridley-based Medtronic Inc. and the Ford Motor Co. announced plans Wednesday to develop a system to display information from a diabetic patient's continuous glucose monitor on the dashboard of Ford vehicles. Three years ago, Medtronic unveiled at a trade show what it called the "M-Powered" concept car, in which a donated Lincoln Zephyr was outfitted with a dashboard gauge to display glucose readings. The new deal with Ford would take a stab at making that concept a reality, although it's not clear when the glucose gauge might actually be available in cars. "Three years ago, it was just a concept," said James Dallas, a senior vice president with Medtronic. "Now, we've advanced from the concept phase to the possibility phase."
