Just over a year ago, Medtronic launched an iOS app that allows patients using its MiniMed continuous glucose monitor to view real-time data on their iPhones. Now, more patients will be getting on board as Medtronic debuts the Android version of the app.
The MiniMed Connect app connects with a patient’s insulin pump and MiniMed 530G or MiniMed Revel continuous glucose monitors and is updated with new data every five minutes. It is the first app that allows diabetics to monitor their real-time blood glucose levels on an Android device, Medtronic said in a statement. Caregivers may access real-time data from the app on any internet-connected mobile device or PC. Data from the app is also uploaded daily to the CareLink therapy management software, helping physicians optimize therapy, Medtronic said.
"In addition to greater convenience, our recent data shows that with easier and better access to their data, the MiniMed Connect app helps patients reduce high and low sugar events, and keep their sugar within range more often," said Annette Brüls, president of Medtronic’s Diabetes Service and Solutions division, in the statement. "Making the MiniMed Connect app available for Android users, their loved ones and their care partners propels us forward in our goal to meet both the diabetes management and lifestyle needs of people with diabetes so they can live with greater freedom and better health."
After Medtronic launched the iOS app, it examined data from almost 2,800 patients who used it for at least 60 consecutive days. The data, collected in CareLink, showed that patients using the app had two fewer low blood sugar events and 41 fewer severe high blood sugar events per year, according to the statement. Additionally, 66% stayed in their acceptable blood glucose range more often.
The MiniMed app is just one facet of Medtronic’s mission to “transform” diabetes care. In January, Medtronic and IBM Watson unveiled the prototype of an app that could predict dangerously low blood glucose levels up to three hours in advance. And the devicemaker’s MiniMed 670G hybrid closed-loop system earned FDA approval this fall and is the first device approved anywhere that continuously measures blood glucose and delivers the appropriate amount of basal insulin.