2013
Novedades desde Chile
Todos aquí en Diabeto nos encontramos emocionados y trabajando arduamente para poder entregar el mejor producto para las personas que tienen diabetes. Es por eso que queremos anunciar algunos avances que llevamos y también cuales son nuestros planes para el futuro próximo.
Tenemos una presencia ahora en Chile gracias al programa de Start-up Chile. Así que todos aquellos interesados que estèn en Chile siguenos en nuestras cuentas de twitter o facebook para poder estar pendientes de los últimos avances que estaremos entregando.
En el momento queremos desarrollar un pequeño estudio en personas que tengan diabetes así que todos aquellos interesados en participar es un estudio de usabilidad, con unas preguntas y dar un pequeño testimonio. Este estudio cuenta con tres partes. Preliminar, intermedio y final. Cada una de estas fases consistirá en no más de 15 minutos.
Aquellos interesados contactarnos a través de nuestras redes sociales y a nuestro correo contactus@diabe.to. La fecha sería a principios de mayo en el centro de movistar Innova en Providencia 229
Así que estamos abierto a todo tipo de comentarios y sugerencias que tengan al igual que sus preguntas. Sientanse libres de acercarse a nosotros y hacernos saber sus dudas.
2013
Could technology hold the key to managing diabetes?
The facts and figures surrounding diabetes are astounding, with the World Health Organisation estimating there are in excess of 340 million sufferers today. Official data suggests that 80% of those with diabetes have the type II variation which revolves around damaged cells unable to absorb glucose from the bloodstream.
Only a few years ago diabetes was seen as a condition associated only with those over 40 years of age although the situation is changing dramatically. The average age of diabetics is now falling, and in some countries we are seeing regular incidents of teenage diabetes and even younger!
So, could technology hold the key to managing diabetes?
Monitoring blood glucose levels
Whether you suffer from type I diabetes or type II diabetes there is a need to monitor your blood glucose levels on a regular basis. Technology is now available in the form of apps for your mobile phone, wireless blood glucose meters and other ways of storing your blood glucose levels each time you take a reading.
As the average age of diabetics continues to tumble, there is a feeling that the younger generation of today are perhaps more in tune with new technology than those over 40. As a consequence, many experts believe that the mobile phone and other wireless applications hold the key to monitoring blood glucose levels in the future.
Slowly but surely, we are seeing an increase in the acceptance of new technology, as a means of controlling diabetes. As the younger generation grows older, it seems almost inevitable that new technology will become more commonplace than at this moment in time.
Diabetes has no cultural or social barriers
The very fact that diabetes is impacting all cultures and all social groups around the world is something which we cannot ignore. Indeed, recent research showed a significant increase in the number of diabetics in Mexico for example. It may be that an improvement in overall wealth across Latin America is putting more people at risk due to lifestyle issues, which can hasten the development of the condition.
If we can use new technology to monitor, combat and effectively control diabetes going forward, this has the potential to save healthcare associations around the world billions of dollars. Indeed the US and UK governments have recently been the subject of much speculation with regards to the cost of treating diabetes. Many believe that the rising cost could potentially bankrupt both healthcare systems within 30 years, if the rate of growth in new cases is not addressed.
Treating Diabetes – http://www.diabetesforum.com/diabetes-treatment/
2012
Sir Lancelot – Guest post by Ninjabetic
On World diabetes day, we have the honor of featuring our fav. Ninjabetic’s blog post on our blog. Remember, Stay calm and fight on…
When it comes to my diabetes and technology it doesn’t take much to impress me. I’m very much one for having the latest gadgets and gizmos, however having insulin that can be injected to keep me alive is just… WOW!! It’s amazing to think that with a few tools and the correct education people with diabetes can manage their condition.
That’s not to say that I don’t appreciate the technology that’s around these days. My lifestyle is fast furious and fun… and I finally have a diabetes accessory to reflect that.
When my dietician handed over my new Accu-Check Aviva Expert meter my eyes sparkled like a ninja in a sweet shop! A new toy to help me get better glucose levels was just what I needed. I’d heard great things about the Expert and the detailed information and reports it gives the user. I was excited to get started and find out for myself.
I decided to name my meter (yep, you heard right.. I named it). As its function was largely to lance me… a lot… it was knighted Sir Lancelot!
Sir Lancelot and I started a journey 11 months ago with my HbA1c at 8.9 mmol/l – 74%
Sir Lancelot was has been very good to me I must say. He gives me my results quickly and usually without any fuss; it’s rare that I see the words ERROR written on his little face. He asks me to tell him how I’m feeling; if I’m sick, exercising, stressed or on ladies week. He asks if I’m going to be eating or if I’ve already eaten… all very considerate! He then tells me how much insulin I should take at that precise time. What more could I want??
Well Sir Lancelot does do more! He stores all of my information in his mind and lets me see it whenever and however I like! I can view 7, 14, 30, 60 and 90 days worth of information in various charts graphs and tables (In colour too!) Sir Lancelot definitely fits into my fast furious and fun life… excellent team work!
Now I can see patterns in fluctuations with my blood glucose results, see if I’m hitting targets that my diabetes consultant and I have set (my goals are to have levels within 5-10) and adjust my insulin accordingly. With a few taps of a button I can change the amount of insulin that I require at different times of the day depending on how many cabs I’m eating. I can also programme corrective insulin doses for different times of the day depending on what my body needs.
Add to the functionality the awesome design; small neat and funky and we have a winning combination!
So 11 months into our diabetes journey and my HbA1c loomed. I was nervous about my results, though I think a bit of fear is healthy and to be expected. I ‘ve just received my results and they were…. *drum roll* ….7.9mmol/l – 63% I know that they still need to be improved and I need to put in more work to get them to where I want to be, but I was hugely pleased with this result! In 11 years I’ve never had a result that low… heck before my 8.9 in January 2012 my previous results had always been 14+
I’ll always recognize the importance of daily blood glucose testing now, but it’s what I do with the result that makes the difference. Thankfully I have Sir Lancelot to help me along the way.
So cheers to Sir Lancelot my Expert meter… he’s a great diabetes companion! May we continue our bloody journey the way we started… fast furious and fun!
You can check Ninjabetic’s blog in here – http://ninjabetic1.blogspot.co.uk/
2012
Technology in Diabetes – Guest post by Hannah
When I was diagnosed over 15 years ago in june 1997, I think it was a fair comparison to say my meter was like a brick and the pricker was like a torture device especially to my little 2 year old fingers. The meter took an age to read the sugar and I was on syringes and vials. Technology and medicine are irrevocably linked as the technology advances so does the treatments available to us and as the medicine gets better such as with the invention of novorapid in the late 90s and then the new basal insulins (lantus and levemir) in the early millennium it pushes the technology forward.
For me technology makes living with a chronic condition like type 1 diabetes as a teenager that bit easier, it means that you can have ‘cool’ gadgets that hook up to iphones or ipods, Items which are never far from a teens hands. it means that they now have in the diabetes market are now aesthetically pleasing, theyre not ugly and built like a brick I had for a monitor back when I was diagnosed. I’m no longer ashamed to have the meters or other equipment like the diabeto device because they don’t look medical, which as a teen is a big thing for me. It also enables me to manage my diabetes better as I no longer have to write log after log after bloodsugars that lets be honest most diabetics write up the night before an appointment. Now my doctor can download all my sugars , insulin doses and amounts of carbs straight from my meter onto his computer enabling my team to spot patterns a lot more easily and the information is presented in a lot more user friendly way, it’s a far cry from them having to go through pages and pages of bloodcount logs.
In terms of treatment its also advanced a lot. 15 years ago I couldn’t imagine the treatment i’m on now. even though pumps were around when i was diagnosed it wasn’t widely spread especially in the uk. As technology advances so does the medication. From being on vials , then to mixtard then onto the basal bolus and finally being able to get an insulin pump that can do 0.01 of a unit enabling me to have much tighter control. Technology means I now have an bloodcount meter that as well as remembering my sugar, insulin doses and carb counts actually remembers my ratios and can work out my doses taking into account my bloodsugar, amount of carbohydrate and how much active insulin I have in me and then with a simple click of a button bluetooths that dose through to my pump. with the technology advancing at the rate it is , I cant wait to see what the next fifteen years hold ☺
This was a guest post by Hannah who is a Type 1 diabetic from UK. You can read her awesome blog in here http://www.the-bad-diabetic.blogspot.com
2012
Video interview by DazeInfo with Diabeto co-founders
DazeInfo a blog which specializes in tech. industry ran a great interview with 2 of the Diabeto Co-founders, Hemanshu Jain and Shreekant. Pawar. If you are interested in knowing the business side of Diabeto, this is a definite watch for you.
For more information and to the complete blog post, click here – http://www.dazeinfo.com/2012/09/17/diabeto-the-tech-startup-that-beats-diabetes-in-its-own-game-interview/
2012
Diabeto gets excellent coverage by India’s leading national daily, “The Hindu”
Its been a fantastic Monday so far for us. We have been covered by India’s leading national daily, “The Hindu”. The article speaks about the growing problem of Diabetes worldwide and how Diabeto is trying to solve the problem of diabetes management.
Read the entire article in here – http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/article3905544.ece
2012
Diabeto is now compatible with Mendor Glucometer
If you are a diabetic and hail from Europe, then you certainly must have heard of Mendor or probably own one. Mendor is probably one of the world’s first all in one Glucometer. We were pretty impressed with Mendor’s design and moreover since they were once a startup too, we could definitely relate with them.
The initial tests have confirmed complete compatibility of Diabeto with Mendor discreet Glucometer and Diabeto users would be able to make full use of Mendor’s capabilities and Diabeto’s mobile apps with adjunction of Diabeto Hardware.
Mendor has recently launched their Glucometers in UK and have seen considerable success. To read more about Mendor’s Glucometers, click the following link – http://www.mendor.com/en/Discreet.aspx
2012
Diabeto – Breaking new ground in diabetes and disease management
We received excellent coverage on India’s biggest startup platform, Yourstory Here is an excerpt,
Diabetes is a silent killer and the 5th leading cause of death in the world. InIndia alone, approximately 4 crore people suffer from diabetes and close to 346 million people suffer from diabetes worldwide. Aside from the medical implications a patient also has the arduous task of maintaining their own records, visiting their diabetologist every week for checkups and checking sugar levels on a daily basis.
This where Diabeto can play a major role, it is a non-intrusive Bluetooth enabled device that connects to a glucometer and transmits data to your mobile. The Diabeto device can transmit to any diabetes mobile application. The free Diabeto app will also have multiple utilities that can check your blood sugar levels, give history, suggest diet, notify the physician etc.
Shreekant Pawar, Co-Founder of Diabeto spoke to YourStory to tell us more about Diabeto.
How Diabeto works
Glucometers give you information on sugar levels but nothing more. The Diabeto hardware takes that vital information and makes it understandable. Shreekant explains “Diabeto is a hardware device that plugs into your Glucometer and wirelessly transmits your sugar reading to any diabetes mobile application for easy tracking and manageability of your diabetes.”
Read the whole story in here – http://yourstory.in/2012/09/diabeto-breaking-new-ground-in-diabetes-and-disease-management/
2012
Rollercoaster ride of our Startup life and Startup Chile
Scene 1:
Location: Bangalore, Day: 30th August, Time: Around 5.00 pm
Hemanshu and I finish an investor meeting at a plush skyscraper in Bangalore, we were bombarded with the same buzzwords in here, “Traction”, “Market adoption”, “Scaling”, “FDA approvals”, “Regulatory processes”, “Clinical trials” and same questions and remarks such as, “You guys have a great team but we want to see traction”, “We would love to co-invest”, “Who/What is your biggest threat”, “There is no market for your product in India”, “How would you make money” and finally, “Come back when you have some traction and in the meantime, we are tracking you”.
I could see clear despair on Hemanshu’s face and I was trying to hide mine but I was unsuccessful. My cab was waiting below the investor’s office when Hemanshu said,
“This is just the beginning, our journey has begun, enjoy your Kindle and have a safe journey”. He waved, smiled and left while I threw my guitar processor and laptop bag on the back seat of the cab and submerged myself into Van Halen’s “Right Now”. Reached the airport, started reading, Fountainhead on my new Kindle. (Yep, I din’t want to show the world that I haven’t read “Fountainhead” yet, so that was my ulterior motive for buying a Kindle but now everybody would know)
Scene 2:
Location: Mumbai, Day 31st August, Time: Around 1.30 am
I was already missing Bangalore weather and the support which the Bangalore Startup community had given us. I was now sitting alone in my bedroom and trying to read some research papers on Diabetes. Enthusiasm level was into negative. Eyelids were shutting, internet connection was flickering too. I was going through the notes which I had taken down during investor meetings. I had started writing emails to doctors to initiate talks and to demo Diabeto. Twitter Video for Startup Chile had started. The founder of Startup Chile was giving a great inspirational talk about the entire program, an Argentinian investor was speaking about her early stage investor fund which she had launched and in another 15-20 minutes, they were going to announce the results. Suddenly, I could feel the chill, sleep + mild depression had transformed into anxiety. Finally, the time had come, the founder started announcing the results in the batch of 30 startups at a time. Diabeto wasn’t in the first 30, second batch starts, Diabeto’s name wasn’t announced in this batch too. Suddenly, my internet faced some hiccups and I missed the next 5 seconds, I could feel the lump in my throat, this was getting too tense a situation. The 15 startups were announced, Diabeto wasn’t there and then I hear,
Diabeto from India
I couldn’t believe what I just heard, suddenly, enthusiasm levels were infinitely up! Picked up my phone and called up Hemanshu, he din’t pick up, it was 2.30 am, second time he picks up and I just say, “We are in” He couldnt believe and later he couldn’t sleep the entire night, nor could I…
Start-Up Chile is a program created by the Chilean Government, executed by Corfo via InnovaChile, that seeks to attract early stage, high-potential entrepreneurs to bootstrap their startups in Chile, using it as a platform to go global. The end goal of the accelerator program is to convert Chile into the definitive innovation and entrepreneurial hub of Latin America; this is a mission shared by the Government of Chile and is a primary focus of the Ministry of Economy. Each batch has 100 startups from around the world who get 1 year work VISA and a equity free $40,000 seed investment.
All of the Start-Up Chile entrepreneurs are measured during their time in the program by various indicators including participation in local events, presenting workshops on their particular expertise, raising local or international capital, and contracting talent.
Indian startups at Startup Chile
Ecoswarm: It is an online platform that is dedicated to sustainable development. EcoSwarm makes it easy for the user to keep up with his/her green interests. It helps one discover the latest in green technologies, business practices, lifestyle choices, products, services, and jobs – filtered and sorted based on what matters to the concerned person.
Picovico: It is a video creation tool that makes it easy and fun for everyone to create and share videos using their own pictures, words and music.
Treadalong: A stealth mode travel startup that goes by the tagline- share.discover.treadalong.
Diabeto wishes all the startups an eventful and awesome journey at Startup Chile
2012
How an Indian start up is joining the global fight against Diabetes:The Diabeto way
Diabetes today affects more than 350 million people across the globe. And the numbers are growing daily. It is a condition in which the insulin producing capacity of the body is severely reduced and this results in uncontrolled blood sugar. This can, in chronic conditions, lead to delayed healing of wounds, failure of eye sight, kidney disorders and even death. One of the challenges of Diabetes management has been the need for continuous monitoring of blood glucose levels.
Remote monitoring is the most effective system to combat diabetes.
Traditionally doctors would prescribe tests to be carried out in labs. But of late there are many home glucose monitors that can monitor the levels daily. Unfortunately all these readings would either have to be written down manually or entered into an excel sheet in the computer.
Realizing the problem faced by his diabetic father daily, Shreekanth Pawar, a Mumbai based pharmacist and founder of Farasbee, started working on a device that will connect the home glucose monitor with a smart phone. He was joined on this mission by another young engineer Himanshu Jain and together they have created what is probably India’s first remote blood glucose monitoring device ‘Diabeto”.
‘Diabeto’ is a remote monitoring device that connects the glucometer to a smart phone through blue tooth. Diabeto was designed by an Industrial designer in India and currently 20 pieces are available. Bulk production is planned in India and China. The device can be charged using a USB charger and can last for 2-3 days once charged fully. It also has an auto switch off function if not used for more than 2 minutes.
Patient compliance with Diabetes treatment is higher if mobile technology is used in the treatment.
Currently Farasbee is in talks with Pharmaceutical firms and Glucometer manufacturers. “The objective is to find a partner with distribution capability,” says Himanshu Jain, co-founder and COO. In addition to launching it in the US and Europe, Diabeto would need Food and Drug Administration (FDA ) approval in addition to the CEE.
For the device to gain traction, the company has developed a “Diabeto” android application which will allow patients to see their data on their smart phones. The application can be freely downloaded from the Google Play stores. It allows you to store the data with comments. Eventually it is proposed that this application would allow you to send the data as an SMS to your physician. Currently there is an option to export the data to an excel sheet or to email the readings to the physician. There are also plans to launch the Diabeto application version on Apple iOS.
Diabeto actually sits at the convergence of Hardware (device), product engineering, Applications (Android), mobility and healthcare. To make such a product work there were multiple teams working together towards the common vision and that was the biggest challenge that Diabeto faced says CMO Shreekanth.
To make sure that they leverage technology appropriately, CMO Shreekanth is focusing on e-commerce as a channel to sell the product. The plan is to price Diabeto in the $ 55- 80 price range, which makes it cheaper than the other devices. Eventually he expects physical retailers to stock up Diabeto as well.
What does the future hold for the team ‘Diabeto’? Well the future seems bright. They have just qualified for the “Power of ideas 2012” contest organized by Economic times. They have been covered by Economic Times as part of the contest and are covered by other healthcare thought leaders as well. They have recently opened their US office in New Jersey and next month Shreekanth is planning to travel to Europe to meet potential partners. The company is overall led by Amir Shaik who is the founder of the file sharing site’yousendit’.
There are plans to launch services around Diabeto and currently the team is strategizing on that and is looking at cloud based services. Shreekanth who has founded other companies like ‘toonio.com’,’ toonwork’ and ‘tritontech’ feels that it is a matter of time before they target other therapeutic areas for remote monitoring.
In a world where the battle with Diabetes has entered a definitive stage, this Indian start-up is doing its bit for society and I hope for our sake they succeed.
Recent Posts
- Novedades desde Chile
- Could technology hold the key to managing diabetes?
- Sir Lancelot – Guest post by Ninjabetic
- Technology in Diabetes – Guest post by Hannah
- Video interview by DazeInfo with Diabeto co-founders
Recent Comments
- @anandish Awesome, will let you know, will talk to Wockhardt guys soon :)
- @anandish Does your Glucometer have a Data port of any sort?
- @anandish We guess, wockhardt is just the marketer/distributor, can you check the back of the glucometer for make and manufacturer?
- @AnandNBW Thanks for the kind words :)
- @anandish Greetings Anand, who is the original manufacturer of that Glucometer? We are still yet to launch so keep in touch :)