Mathew discusses LifeScan's prototype iPhone BGM app in 2009
In early 2009 at an iPhone 3.0 launch event, Apple demonstrated how a LifeScan blood glucose meter could connect to the iPhone.
Anita Mathew from LifeScan, a Johnson & Johnson company, demonstrated the prototype iPhone application that would let users upload glucose readings from their connected blood glucose monitors direclty to their iPhone. The app would let users send their readings and a message about how they’re feeling to caregivers like their parents, children or physician. The app could even estimate, based on diet, how much insulin is needed after each meal.
“So imagine the possibilities,” Apple's SVP of iPhone Software Scott Forstall said at the time. “We think this is profound.”
And it was. A profound prototype. Now, almost exactly two years later there is a growing number of companies working on mobile-enabled diabetes management devices, services and apps. For many working in mobile health, diabetes management represents the biggest opportunity for mobile technology.
While we have yet to see the LifeScan BGM iPhone companion app launch, a number of other companies have launched apps and devices like it. One of the other big names in the space, of course, is Medtronic, which most recently announced a research partnership with Ford to explore connecting continuous blood glucose meters to Ford vehicle's onboard computer.
Johnson & Johnson, Medtronic -- which are the companies working on mobile-enabled diabetes management service that you have yet to hear about? Many are working to bring next generation diabetes management devices and services to market.
Below, is our list of 10 companies working on diabetes management services with connected devices and mobile apps that you should know. Who did we miss?
Telcare
Telcare's diabetes offering is the Telcare BGM, a 3G-enabled blood glucose meter. The device wirelessly transmits glucose values to an online clinical server, which then connects to EHR (electronic health records) systems for clinician viewing. Caregivers now have an easy means of being alerted to out-of-range glucose values and failure to test. Users can also track their glucose levels over time via a variety of smartphone applications, which also allow for real time updates and alerts for parents of diabetic children and the elderly.
The TelCare BGM is currently awaiting FDA and EU clearance. Telcare secured $2.5 million in equity offering last May (of a targeted $4 million) and has partnered with Sierra Wireless and Qualcomm for the embedded wireless technology. The company plans on pricing the wireless device competitively against non-connected testing devices, making the decision by insurers to adopt the Telcare BGM an easy one.
WellDoc
For patients with Type 2 Diabetes, WellDoc has the WellDoc DiabetesManager, an FDA-approved mobile application for tracking their disease. Launched in early 2011, the app allows patients and clinicians "real-time clinical and behavioral coaching" based on biometric information collected using a "secure capture, storage, and real-time transmission of blood glucose data," and has a built-in analytics program for trend tracking and patient coaching. The app features integration with the AllScripts EHR service.
WellDoc worked five years on the application, and earned itself a number of mHealth industry firsts, include 501(k) FDA approval of a mHealth app and EHR integration. WellDoc, in a collaboration with Ford, recently demonstrated a prototype for diabetes tracking using the Ford Sync vehicle computer system, which could warn drivers of low blood sugar levels and insulin shock risks.
CellNovo
CellNovo created the first wireless-enabled insulin pump for diabetics (also called the CellNovo). The device features an advanced touch-screen mobile interface, via wireless remote, and provides healthcare professionals and families immediate access to a bevy of medical information. Besides insulin, the company's software tracks a number of health-related categories including glucose levels, diet, exercise, weight, fitness goals and trends.
CellNovo recently snagged $48 million from a large group of investors. The company's CEO, Bill Mckeon, has compared his company's approach to Apple's, saying to Invivo that “If people understand Cellnovo as a device that sends data to a website, they are missing the point. If you had asked Steve Jobs at Apple about his new MP3 player called the iPod, and how it compares to other MP3 players, he might have said, ‘I am not making an MP3 player. I’m bringing entertainment into your life in a number of ways.”
Entra Health Systems
Entra Health Systems’s MyGlucoHealth wireless glucose meter uses Bluetooth technology to transmit testing data. Most notably, patients with Nokia phones can download the free MyGlucoHealth app on the Ovi app store, which can sync with the wireless meter for personal health analysis and to schedule test reminders. In addition, users can view charts and pictograms via their phones and input weight, exercise, and nutritional data into the app. MyGlucoHealth also has a robust web application, where patients and their physicians can view the aggregated data.
Worldwide downloads for the MyGlucoHealth app reached over 150,000 last year, with large numbers of users from India, Saudi Arabia, and South America. The app has proven increasingly popular in these developing markets.
Dexcom
Dexcom's SEVEN PLUS Continuous Glucose Monitoring (CGM) System is a wireless, water-resistant glucose meter that continuously monitors glucose levels with minimal worry for the user. A small, lightweight sensor (with the smallest introducer needle on the market) can be worn for seven days, the longest approved by the FDA. The device provides constant updates your glucose levels, sending notices when dipping under certain levels. Users can also view daily, weekly, and monthly trends on the device's display.
Dexcom was founded in 1999 in response to research on implant sensor technology that began as far back as 1967. In 2009, they appointed Dr. Eric Topol, M.D. to their Board of Directors.
GlucoseBuddy
GlucoseBuddy, from MYLEstone Health, is another diabetes management app that has a web and mobile app component. Users can track their diet, medications, exercise and glucose levels throughout the day, with the ability to chart the data in graph form. The application integrates Roche’s Accu-Check educational software for additional health management options.
GlucoseBody is one of the most popular diabetes tracking apps in the App Store, thanks in part to the free price and availability for the iPad, iPhone and iPod Touch. The application is fast approaching six million logs. Interestingly, one of the apps creators, Matt Tendler, is now employed at Telcare.
Agamatrix
Last September Agamatrix announced a deal with French pharmaceutical company Sanofi Aventis to create blood glucose meter plug-in for Apple’s iPhone called iBGStar Nugget. The device is still pending FDA approval. “iBGStar is the first available blood glucose meter that seamlessly connects to the iPhone and iPod touch allowing you to view and analyse accurate, reliable information in ‘real time,’” Sanofi Aventis writes on its iBGStar site. “Using the technology built into your iPhone or iPod touch, you can share this information with your healthcare professional while on-the-go, to help you make better-informed diabetes-related decisions together.”
Agamatrix’s glucometers include the unique WaveSense biosense technology, which the company says offers incredibly accurate glucose readings. The company claims that common errors and miscalculations in other meters, including environmental, blood sample, and manufacturing factors, are corrected with WaveSense. For the iPhone, the company has an app with data tracking features.
Agamatrix has had long-standing plans to release a Direct Connect Cable between the iPhone and their other glucometer offerings, which has been delayed due to awaiting FDA 510(k) approval. The cable would be offered at a relatively cheap price (between $25 and $30) when it finally launches.
LiveStrong MyPlateD
LiveStrong features a diabetes section called MyPlateD within the Livestrong Calorie Tracker app for iPhone and BlackBerry. Aimed at Type 2 Diabetics, the app allows users to track the nutritional components of the food they eat, as well as chart glucose levels and insulin usage.
Livestrong is a health and fitness-focused organization created by Lance Armstrong. The free website bills itself as one of the largest food and fitness databases on the internet.
MedApps
MedApps' HealthPAL is a small, portable dedicated device that MedApps uses to collect data from connected glucose meters, blood pressure monitors, pulse oximeters and weight scales. The data is then sent over a secure server to an online portal like Microsoft’s HealthVault or Google Health for caregivers, physicians or the patient themselves to view.
The FDA granted HealthPAL 510(k) clearance two years ago, and more recently, the device secured a CE mark in Europe in Canada.
MicroCHIPS
MicroCHIPS is definitely the most experimental of the technologies we’ve covered in diabetes field. Their tech focuses on implantable medical devices (installed during a simple outpatient procedure) that monitor glucose levels and wirelessly report the information to a handheld monitor -- no needles required. The sensor can operate for a year before it needs to be replaced, according to the company.
MicroCHIPS recieved $16.5 million in venture capital last year (with $70 million total) and began at MIT more than decade ago.
