Klue seeks to change behaviors for the better through an artificial intelligence platform that works with wearables, such as a smartwatch. Its first focus was helping people track and change their eating habits; now, the company is rolling out an offering specifically for people with Type 1 diabetes.
The San Francisco-based company uses gesture-sensing AI to track when a user takes “a bite or a sip” via their wrist movements. Over time, the software compiles this information in a graph of the person’s consumption habits, which includes when, how much and how quickly they eat or drink. Through a wearable, such as the Apple Watch, the software also coaches the user in real time, prompting them to check their blood sugar level, to drink some water, or to slow down while eating.
Klue is expanding into Type 1 diabetes by adding a mealtime medication reminder to its offerings—the platform will send a bolus reminder when it senses the user is eating based on their movements.
“We are here to help people live healthier and happier lives. We believe that the future of healthcare delivery will thrive on personal, in-the-moment interactions centered around times of high impact,” said Klue CEO and founder Katelijn Vleugels in a statement. “The introduction of a reminder module for mealtime insulin administration is another important step in the realization of that vision.”
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“Missed premeal insulin boluses is a leading contributor to poor glycemic control and Klue’s real-time detection could be beneficial to many people with type 1 diabetes,” said Marc Breton, Ph.D., an associate professor at the University of Virginia Center for Diabetes Technology and a cofounder of TypeZero Technologies, a diabetes management company. Before Dexcom acquired TypeZero in August, the company had teamed up with multiple diabetes players to use its InControl platform in artificial pancreas technology.
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“I am most excited about the prospect of using Klue’s technology within a fully autonomous closed-loop artificial pancreas system. Automated realtime information of a patient’s eating behavior, coupled with novel control algorithms, may very well enable a true “set and forget” closed loop insulin delivery system. This would be a game changer in decreasing the daily burden of diabetes and achieving optimal glycemic control for people with T1D,” Breton said.