Blood glucose monitors that work with smartphones aren't new. But taking an existing blood glucose monitor, not designed to work with a smartphone, and enabling it to wirelessly sync up to a smartphone--now that is new.
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| Glooko MeterSync Blue--Courtesy of Glooko |
This is the task that startup Glooko has undertaken--making tens of millions of existing blood glucose monitors transmit wirelessly to smartphones. The company has launched a small device that plugs into more than 30 existing blood glucose meters that can transmit data wirelessly to a smartphone. Last October, Glooko launched the first version of the device, which required physical attachment via a second connector to the smartphone.
The startup's expectation is that health systems and payers will jump at the chance to collect data on their diabetes patients with the monitors they already have.
Dubbed the Glooko MeterSync Blue, the device transmits data wirelessly to a corresponding smartphone app. It does so after each reading, which lets patients view, analyze and annotate their blood glucose readings on their smartphone. The data is then transmitted to the cloud and the Glooko Population Tracker, which allows healthcare providers to identify patients with high or low blood glucose events. The tracker can be used to issue reminders to patients for timely blood glucose data.
"Glooko's ability to sync blood glucose data from several meters and analyze trends has added efficiency within my clinical practice," Dr. Zachary Bloomgarden, an endocrinologist and professor at Mount Sinai Medical Center, said in a statement.
He added that the device ensures "that patients can more seamlessly share their data with me between visits, particularly those at higher risk, including women during pregnancy and poorly controlled patients initiating treatment with insulin. It should also help with patients who are not at high risk but for whom the ability to review home glucose monitoring results will improve adherence to the increasingly complex regimens of modern diabetes management."
The Glooko MeterSync Blue is FDA cleared and HIPAA compliant. The app is available for both iPhone and Android devices. It works with several models of blood glucose monitors from each maker including Accu-Chek, Bayer, Abbott, Nipro, CVS, Walgreens and Rite Aid.
The startup recently partnered with the Joslin Institute for Technology Translation at the Joslin Diabetes Center to create a HypoMap to track and predict patients at greatest risk for hypoglycemia. As many as 269,000 U.S. diabetes patients were hospitalized last year due to hypoglycemia, according to Stanford University data cited by the company.
Founded in 2011, Glooko raised $7 million in January in a Series A-1 financing from new investors such as Samsung Venture Investment and Lifeforce Ventures, as well as existing investors including The Social+Capital Partnership.
- here is the release