Technology for Diabetes: 2018 Overview of Devices, Gadgets & Tech Part 1

 Globally, diabetes poses a big problem for every country. “Diabetes is on the rise. No longer a disease of predominantly rich nations, the prevalence of diabetes is steadily increasing everywhere, most markedly in the world’s middle-income countries” (Global Report on Diabetes. World Health Organization 2016)

KPMG provides this disturbing stats U.S. CDC (Digital Health And Disruption In Diabetes by KPMG Centers for Disease Control; and Prevention. Diabetes Report Card 2017, Atlanta, Georgia, 2018)

• 30.3 million of Americans (9.4% of the population) have diabetes 
• 1.25 million American children and adults have T1D
•  86 million Americans age 18 and older have prediabetes.
• 1.5 million Americans are diagnosed with diabetes every year
•  The annual rate of increase is 1.8% for T1D and 4.8% for T2D

 

 “Today’s generation of digital migrants and digital natives do not want to write things down on paper; they expect technology to make their lives easier and perform these tasks for them.” (Powerto the Patient Diabetes Management in the Digital Age. Cambridge Consultants)

 And, indeed, Technology plays an important role in resolving all problems, associated with the disease. This is very clearly reflected in the market volume - the total revenue digital diabetes market tripled in 2017 to $98 million, according to Research2Guidance. Report:Digital diabetes market surging, will hit $742M by 2022 by Mobihealth.com

The research group expects the full market to be worth $742 million in 2022

It started with a stand-alone devices and evolves now to a full-bundled services that combine connected devices, test strip supplies, app-driven services, coaching services. According to  Research2Guidance, there are more than 2,000 different digital services currently available to diabetes patients. 

In the most general terms, digital technology for diabetes serves the following purposes:

• Deliver convenient access to time-critical information for patients, healthcare professionals, and researchers;
• Enable and enhance remote monitoring, diagnosis of patients often based on information delivered by wearable devices
• Decision support to assist patients in selecting treatment
•  Deliver timely recommendations for treatment to increase adherence to prescribed therapy

(Digital Diabetes Congress 2017 )

 

I would highly recommend exploring this detailed document: Digital Innovation inDiabetes Care - Trend Report 2016. The Center for Digital Technology and Management (CDTM)  - joint interdisciplinary institution of education, research, and entrepreneurship of the Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München (LMU) and the Technische Universität München (TUM).

Among other themes, that are in detail analyzed, there are some worth to notice:

Technology Trends in Diabetes Care

• Telehealth 
• Big Data and Machine Learning 
• Networked Care
•  Advancements in Glucose Sensor Technology 
• Non-Invasive Insulin Delivery Systems
•  Smart Devices
•  Closed-Loop Systems
•  Bioengineering and Gene Therapy
• Food-Tech

 

Business Model Trends in Diabetes Care

• Internet of Things
• Predictive Medicine
•  Online Job Platforms
•  Telemedicine
•  Changing Lifestyle
•  Emerging Business Models Utilizing Crowdsourcing
•  Value-Based Healthcare Model

 

Above mentioned KPMG paper has this illustration of Digital Health In Diabetes Ecosystem