New technologies are a rescue for diabetics
We present some modern Polish technologies that can help diabetics. Will it ever be possible to resign from painful pricks, injections and strict monitoring of the diet?
Diabetics don't have an easy life. They have to master to perfection the calculation of insulin doses, carbohydrate exchanges, glycemic index of food products. Necessity of regular and frequent glycemic control can also be exhausting. Which new technologies supporting diabetics are being developed by Polish innovators?
Applications that facilitate health control
In addition to the usual, generally available smartphone applications to collect health information, there are available special programs that cooperate with your glucose meter and medical applications. These are applications such as those created by Diabdis. They collect the results from the glucose meter, present them in the form of a convenient and transparent report, which can be available online to the doctor or caregiver. The applications enable conducting of an electronic glycemia diary or a WW calculator, arranging of diet or marking of meals. They are useful in the practice of a doctor, dietitian, and patient.
Non-invasive blood sugar testing
Everyday life includes smartbands and smartwatches measuring heart rate, blood oxygen saturation, physical activity, sleep quality and general well-being. Unfortunately, blood glucose level measurement still has to be done by invasive blood drop collection method. Technology that allows non-invasive measurement of blood glucose level would diametrically improve the comfort of life for diabetics.
Graduates of the Wrocław University of Technology are working on such a device. The GlucoActive Project is going to be a non-invasive glucose meter in the form of a watch, using optical and spectrophotometric methods. The device is currently in the testing phase.
Big Data and artificial intelligence
Large data sets and artificial intelligence analyzing them are promising tools to support people suffering from chronic diseases. They may allow, inter alia, early detection of diseases based on changes in users behavior and predict behavior unfavorable for a particular patient. In Poland one of the companies dealing with Big Data analysis and the use of SI in the treatment of diabetics is DiabetesLab.
Artificial pancreas
Artificial pancreas is probably the most awaited technology among diabetics. So far, several innovative solutions and ideas have appeared, but so far no real artificial pancreas has been produced that will eliminate the necessity to measure glucose levels and administer insulin. Nevertheless, one of the promising ideas is the bionic pancreas built of living cells and biological elements. This is a huge success of Poles, because as the first in the world they managed to create an artificial pancreas along with blood vessels. Work began in 2017, and in 2019 a bionic organ was created that was made in 3D technique. Studies are currently underway on mice. Six large centers participate in the Polish project, whose representative is the Research and Science Development Foundation.
Every day new medical start-ups and fascinating ideas are created. They have the chance to transform into prototypes of technologies and then into usable technologies that improve the comfort of living of diabetics. Each such discovery is a chance for diabetics, of which there are almost 3 millions in Poland alone.
Jerzy A. Kozłowski for Innomedbook