That’s short for the Remotely Monitored Artificial Pancreas (RMAP) project for those who missed my previous post announcing the Sensors & People program of which this project is a key one. Go there and see what a few of the most incredible diabetes researchers and practitioners are saying about their excitement to work with Diabetech bringing AP into the current century!

Homepage for the RMAP Project.

There are several different ways to infer blood glucose levels through chemistry and electricity using disposable strips and meters. You might not realize it but there are clearly some meters and strips that are custom made for you and some that you need to avoid. I have some more analysis to do yet before posting a resource on mygluco.com that helps you determine which chemistries and methods are best for you vs which ones you need to avoid.

For starters however, did you know that when you are in a high altitude environment you need to avoid meters/strips that are based on glucose oxidase? How many of you take echinacea to boost your immunity? If that’s you then you definitely need to avoid test strips from 2 of the top 4 meter manufacturers. But if you’re at high altitude that same meter that might be the wrong choice for an echinacea lovin’ person might be the perfect choice.

All of this information is published online but good luck finding it and even more luck trying to make sense of it. Then why doesn’t the average physician, diabetes educator or patient know this? Hmmm? I’ll try to avoid conspiracy theories as I flesh this out and report on this as a clear and cited resource.

In summary, I know of at least 5 different categories that should influence our decision regarding which meter and test strip is best for us:
- physiology
- lifestyle
- prescriptions
- diet
- cost (formulary & co-pay)

Do you know of any other considerations?

Stay tuned for more on this life-critical topic (seriously - people have died because they used the wrong meter/strip). In the meantime, you might start asking around to see if anyone else is aware of this little secret and why it’s not in the mainstream. I’d like to know, too. You might also make sure you fill out your personal health record with information around those 5 categories so that your medical team can be aware and make better decisions with you vs for you.

A lot is happening this year vs. the past when it comes to technology and diabetes. Namely, the opportunity to task small sensors in the role of providing data as inputs to decision making for better control of blood sugar by people with diabetes… and many other health conditions as well. Decisions can also be made by computers. The trick isn’t just to use sensors or not to use them but how to fit them into our daily living unobtrusively and then making sure they are clearly effecting lifestyle and how we feel day to day.

Sensors & People is the name we’ve chosen for launching our new development program. It is also a new category on Challenge Diabetes so that it will be easy to find the posts that relate to the forthcoming products that we hope to create out of this R&D testbed.

I hope to post an update to our Remotely Monitored Artificial Pancreas (RMAP) project this week. This is just one project within our Sensors & People program. We don’t talk about RMAP much in the public space but it’s been in development here since we first published the concepts way back in 2003 as part of a proposal to the NIDDK. “You should call this OnStar for diabetes” as one parent of a child with type 1 diabetes once described it during a presentation in Sugarland, Texas way back in 2004. And as Sonia Cooper, President of Children With Diabetes Foundation, shared with me during a call discussing the first CGM devices, “CGM alarms for low blood sugar to a person who is unconscious kind of misses the point. Doesn’t it?”.

You would be amazed (or disgusted) at how much cool stuff is sitting idle in research labs around the world. I was even told recently that scientific research grants are being awarded based on evaluation of current business models. Huh? Call me naive but I thought science was pure and evidence forces the adoption of efficacious therapies (ie - leapfrog technology has no business model when it’s an idea)? That’s why we’re accelerating our efforts in this area now. Given the accelerated adoption of our GlucoMON-ADMS by health plans, health systems, providers and patients I think we’ve proven that we know how to get the job done. It’s time for the next generation of products incorporating Diabetech technology and ‘Sensors & People’ is a brand that you will be hearing about a lot more in the weeks and months to come.