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How Wearable Glucose Monitors Could Help Health Systems

Analysis  |  By Mandy Roth  
   June 28, 2018

Canadian researchers make progress on novel device to help diabetics gain better control of a costly disease.

An innovation employing radar and artificial intelligence (AI) may enable future diabetics to monitor their blood sugar not by drawing blood but through a wearable, watch-like device.

A study published by the University of Waterloo in Ontario, Canada, in the International Journal of Mobile Human Computer Interaction demonstrated that the current prototype achieved results that were 85% as accurate as traditional, invasive blood analysis.

Researchers are collaborating with Google and German hardware company Infineon, which jointly developed a small radar device and sought input from select international teams for potential applications.

Waterloo was invited to participate, and developers of the diabetes monitor believe they are the only site devising a healthcare application. The team used the radar device to send high-frequency radio waves into liquids containing various levels of glucose. As the waves reflected back, they were converted into digital data for analysis by machine-learning AI algorithms developed by the researchers.

Development of a commercially viable wearable device is probably about five years away.

 

3 Ways Health Systems Might Benefit

  • Besides enhanced comfort for patients who don't have to endure multiple finger pricks to collect blood samples, "the key advantage to hospitals," says lead investigator George Shaker, an engineering professor at the University of Waterloo, "would be minimizing the burden of gathering blood samples to monitor a patient with diabetes. It could help [hospitals] use medical resources and staff more effectively."
     
  • The device also could become a useful tool in population health initiatives. The ability to self-monitor outside of hospital settings could lead to greater compliance with recommended diabetes protocols and better management of blood glucose.
     
  • One target population could be the 84 million American with prediabetes. According to the American Diabetes Association (ADA), 90% of those in this category are not aware they have the condition.
     

Better Control Lowers Cost, Utilization

An ADA study released in March indicates the total estimated cost of diagnosed diabetes in 2017 is $327 billion, including $237 billion in direct medical costs and $90 billion in reduced productivity. The impact is magnified, however, because people with diabetes are at higher risk for numerous costly diseases and conditions including stroke, heart disease, kidney disease, blindness, and loss of toes, feet or legs.

The disease also has a tremendous impact on hospitals. According to a study published by BMC Research on January 22, 2015:

  • Several studies have demonstrated that people with diabetes have hospital admission rates between 2 and 6 times higher than people without diabetes
     
  • The mean length of stay was 8.2 days for patients in the study with diabetes versus 7.1 days for those without the disease
     

Additional Development Required

Now that the team has demonstrated that radar can detect changes in the blood to detect, they will refine the system to precisely quantify glucose levels and obtain results through the skin, which adds additional challenges. Researchers are also working with Infineon to shrink the radar device to reduce cost and power usage.

Another expected improvement: data transmission. While data analyzed by the AI algorithms is now sent wirelessly to computers, the objective is to create a self-contained device similar to the smartwatches that monitor heart rate.

Shaker's team already has experience producing innovation solutions with healthcare applications. In the past they were involved in creating a smart contact lens platform now in market development with Medella Health that continuously and non-invasively monitors glucose levels in tears. The device transmits data to a mobile phone to help patients better manage diabetes.

Mandy Roth is the innovations editor at HealthLeaders.


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