Diabetes and Visual Impairment: A Barrier Free Blood Glucose Meter

[AK2018]

Hi everyone

I'm a final year Product Design Engineering student at Edinburgh Napier University. I am designing a blood glucose meter for my honours project and I need your help! I'm passionate about inclusive design and I want to design a blood glucose meter that is easier to use for everyone but especially anyone with low vision or blindness.

If you have a vision impairment and use a blood glucose meter could you please fill in my survey using the link below? (It is completely anonymous).

https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/8WXW2PW

I want to find the issues faced with current blood glucose meters so I can design solutions for these. I also want to find out if there is a demand for a non-visual, silent option e.g. finding out your blood glucose results silently (and not using headphones).

If you are willing to answer my questionnaire please read the participant information sheet attached first for more information about my research. By filling in the questionnaire you are giving consent for me to analyse and publish the results in my project.

Thank you so much for taking the time to read this.

Aoife

Edited by Mod to add URL.

 

[lovinglife]

I'm not blind or visually impaired but my dad is - so I've filled it in as him because he really struggled as his sight got worse, people think it's just about having a talking meter but that's only a small part of it, good luck with your design - from my experience of trying to find something to help him there really is a gap in the market

 

[planetsunshine]

At last, my prayers are being answered.!
I am registered as blind, I had eye cancer 3 years ago and lost the sight in that eye due to the treatment, but now I have a dense cataract on the other eye, which due to various conditions with my health is inoperable. I developed type 2 diabetes as a result of a trauma in 2017 when my stress levels were very high, and then my problems began in earnest.
I am unable to take many medications through allergies, but more specifically not oral medication as I also have digestive problems, metformin, metformin slow release, all of them, were tried but the results on my life and body were deemed unacceptable.
I was put on Lixisenatide in May last year and my hba1 came down from 85 to 42, i lost weight and was doing well. Then in September last year I was found during my 6 monthly check on my cancerous eye, that the pressure in it had rocketed to 67 which was making it a blind painful eye. The normal action is to remove such an eye, but because the tumour is still viable, that is not an option for me as it could spread the tumour through my body.
I was put on steroids, and steroid drops to keep the inflammation down, then had 2 operations to help neither of which made a huge improvement.
I am now onsteroid drops in both eyes for the rest of my life I have been told.
My hba1c has rocketed to 99. and my blood sugars can go from 12.9 up to 21.3 having been controlled at 7.9 up until last year.
I should prick test about 8 times a day, but the practicalities of it are that as I am I cannot see to finger prick properly and have on many occasions stabbed myself but not my finger, and cannot see well enough to get the strips into the accucheck monitor.My husband can only help me when he is home from work, and there are no neighbours or friends nearby that can be with me on at least 6 occasions. The DN said get the district nurse to do it, but that is living in cuckoo land. The nurse could not even take my blood pressure last week as a colleague had taken her bp meter. I will
I have asked about a flash or constant monitor but the DN team are either thick or without empathy. They just dont get it.
I have aids for everything else in my life including talking tech so i can use my computer, but for the thing that is most important I have nothing for, and do not qualify for a monitor as i am type 2 not type 1. I am going to have to fund myself for a meter, at a cost of £159 month.
Something that is designed for people who are blind or sight impaired would be wonderful, and cant come quick enough.I will fill in the questionaire, and hope something positve comes from it, for everyon e with sight or disability problems

 

[lovinglife]

Your post really resonated with me @planetsunshine - my dad registered blind struggled with all those things - then he started to struggle with his insulin too - he's in a care home now but did have district nurses for a while but it was very hit and miss - the talking meter was as much use as a chocolate fire guard

 

[kitedoc]

HI @AK2018, No visual troubles personally but I thought Apple was looking at making a BSL monitor worn like a watch.
Presumably the 'reading' was done through the skin. Linked to a talking app such a device might overcome a number of problems.
There was work going on with using one's tears to measure glucose levels, but not as practical for someone who is blind.
There are already skin patches being developed to deliver medication through the skin - via a number of very fine needles in the patch. Could the process be reversed with the needles reading the fluid under the skin a bit like the Continuous Glucose Monitoring (CGM) currently in use. A scanner is placed over the patch to read off the result and rendered into an audio signal?
The blind person or the carer take off one 'ouchy' skin patch after x days and replace it. Shaving of hair etc would be needed.
You could have a device which fits over a finger, a bit like the oxygen monitor finger device used in hospitals but orientated so that a finger prick sampling could be done, and read and transferred to an audio signal. The device could be handled by a blind person and result obtained??
Just some off the top of head thoughts.
Best Wishes with your project !!

 

[AK2018]

I'm not blind or visually impaired but my dad is - so I've filled it in as him because he really struggled as his sight got worse, people think it's just about having a talking meter but that's only a small part of it, good luck with your design - from my experience of trying to find something to help him there really is a gap in the market

Thanks for filling in the questionnaire from your dads perspective!

 

[AK2018]

At last, my prayers are being answered.!
I am registered as blind, I had eye cancer 3 years ago and lost the sight in that eye due to the treatment, but now I have a dense cataract on the other eye, which due to various conditions with my health is inoperable. I developed type 2 diabetes as a result of a trauma in 2017 when my stress levels were very high, and then my problems began in earnest.
I am unable to take many medications through allergies, but more specifically not oral medication as I also have digestive problems, metformin, metformin slow release, all of them, were tried but the results on my life and body were deemed unacceptable.
I was put on Lixisenatide in May last year and my hba1 came down from 85 to 42, i lost weight and was doing well. Then in September last year I was found during my 6 monthly check on my cancerous eye, that the pressure in it had rocketed to 67 which was making it a blind painful eye. The normal action is to remove such an eye, but because the tumour is still viable, that is not an option for me as it could spread the tumour through my body.
I was put on steroids, and steroid drops to keep the inflammation down, then had 2 operations to help neither of which made a huge improvement.
I am now onsteroid drops in both eyes for the rest of my life I have been told.
My hba1c has rocketed to 99. and my blood sugars can go from 12.9 up to 21.3 having been controlled at 7.9 up until last year.
I should prick test about 8 times a day, but the practicalities of it are that as I am I cannot see to finger prick properly and have on many occasions stabbed myself but not my finger, and cannot see well enough to get the strips into the accucheck monitor.My husband can only help me when he is home from work, and there are no neighbours or friends nearby that can be with me on at least 6 occasions. The DN said get the district nurse to do it, but that is living in cuckoo land. The nurse could not even take my blood pressure last week as a colleague had taken her bp meter. I will
I have asked about a flash or constant monitor but the DN team are either thick or without empathy. They just dont get it.
I have aids for everything else in my life including talking tech so i can use my computer, but for the thing that is most important I have nothing for, and do not qualify for a monitor as i am type 2 not type 1. I am going to have to fund myself for a meter, at a cost of £159 month.
Something that is designed for people who are blind or sight impaired would be wonderful, and cant come quick enough.I will fill in the questionaire, and hope something positve comes from it, for everyon e with sight or disability problems

I'm sorry to hear about your situation. Thank you for filling in my questionnaire and hopefully future design becomes more accessible to everyone

 

[AK2018]

HI @AK2018, No visual troubles personally but I thought Apple was looking at making a BSL monitor worn like a watch.
Presumably the 'reading' was done through the skin. Linked to a talking app such a device might overcome a number of problems.
There was work going on with using one's tears to measure glucose levels, but not as practical for someone who is blind.
There are already skin patches being developed to deliver medication through the skin - via a number of very fine needles in the patch. Could the process be reversed with the needles reading the fluid under the skin a bit like the Continuous Glucose Monitoring (CGM) currently in use. A scanner is placed over the patch to read off the result and rendered into an audio signal?
The blind person or the carer take off one 'ouchy' skin patch after x days and replace it. Shaving of hair etc would be needed.
You could have a device which fits over a finger, a bit like the oxygen monitor finger device used in hospitals but orientated so that a finger prick sampling could be done, and read and transferred to an audio signal. The device could be handled by a blind person and result obtained??
Just some off the top of head thoughts.
Best Wishes with your project !!

Thanks for this info! I'll research into it