Here is the latest diabetes technology news we’ve heard about in the last month:
Funding for cheap pumps
Asante, the makers of the Snap insulin pump, are raising $45 million in an initial public offering to help expand the pump’s reach in the commercial market, according to a FierceMedicalDevices report. The pump is being touted by Asante for its affordability and simple design. The Snap pump sells roughly for a thousand dollars, and it is loaded with prefilled insulin cartridges. Currently, Asante has only captured a fraction of the pump market.
Medtronic’s artificial pancreas progress
Medtronic is continuing to put the pieces together to create a commercial artificial pancreas system. This past month, the company announced it has completed global evaluations of a new insulin delivery system that can react to predictions of blood glucose level trends. According to an article in FierceMedicalDevices, the new system would be able to detect when blood glucose levels were approaching a preset level and suspend insulin delivery until it detects those levels righting themselves. Any closed-loop artificial pancreas system must correct for lows without user input, or at least with minimal user input.
A life-vest for your CGM
Many a day at the beach has been ruined when a continuous glucose monitor meets water. Now, there’s a Kickstarter campaign to prevent future water-induced tragedies. A company known as dShell is attempting to raise $23,000 to design a waterproof covering for continuous glucose monitors that would work in up to three meters of water. The entrepreneurs pledge to donate 3% of the funds raised to the Diabetes Hands Foundation.
Groupthinking your blood sugar levels
A new app is being launched that helps others monitor your blood glucose levels from a distance, and be alerted when those levels fall out of a preset range. myDiabeticAlert is a free app available on Android that allows people with diabetes to share blood sugar data with physicians, caregivers, and others in a way that the makers say is compliant with privacy laws concerning health records. It represents another attempt to work around the fact that most data collected by diabetes devices aren’t wirelessly accessible on in the cloud.
New pain relief option for neuropathy
Neuromatrix, one of the few companies that has focused on creating nerve-stimulating devices to help treat diabetic neuropathy, is set to unveil its next generation pain relief device this month. The Quell is a small, externally-worn device that is reported to stimulate nerves in a manner that blocks pain caused by many chronic conditions, including diabetic neuropathy, according to a press release published in medGadget.
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