Twitterology said:
Would there be interest in a blood glucose monitoring system that alerts family and relatives if their loved ones levels become too high or too low whilst on holiday or overseas on business? I am trying to gauge interest in working with technology companies to create this?
I am struggling with the benefits of this specific concept.
Say you are in Birmingham (UK) and your loved one is in Birmingham, Alabama (somewhere around there anyway, you think, although they weren't sure last time you spoke to them where they would be for the next day or so).
Assume that the alert technology is based around mobile phone technology (the one most likely to have immediate global reach).
In the middle of the (UK) night you receive a mobile phone text stating that your loved one is having a hypo.
What the hell are you supposed to do about it?
If you do have alert technology it is far more likely to be useful when your loved one is fairly close to you so you can get to them or direct the emergency services to them.
With mobile phone technology an approximate fix is possible using triangulation between towers.
GPS technology is also now mature - you get mobile phones with GPS (cameras also).
So a device could be easily developed which can generate an alert over the mobile network and give a precise location for the person who is in difficulties.
The critical issue is where that alert should go.
If the person is close to you then you can act on it.
If the person is far from you then telling you is useless.
A 911 (or 999 or 112 depending on country) call with a recorded message might be an option.
Apart from that you would have to develop a new infrastructure to receive and act on these emergency messages.
You would also have to prevent false alarms.
If there is an emergency monitoring device attached to a diabetic then the first level of defence is to alert the diabetic so that the problem can be rectified by the usual means.
If they are in trouble because they don't have the appropriate supplies then they can phone for help.
In both these cases they would reset the alarm to avoid an emergency automated call.
If they can't phone for help because they are outside the mobile phone coverage area then the automatic device won't work either.
Only if they are helpless or unconcious and within mobile phone coverage is there a case for an automated summons for help.
Bottom line, do you have any figures for the number of T1s who had a diabetic emergency where the outcome would have been better if they had been wearing an automated warning device with remote messaging capability?
Unless there is a significant number of cases then I don't think people will want to pay extra for something they don't expect to use.
Please understand that I am not knocking the basic concept of an emergency remote warning system tied to a continuous glucose monitor. This may have possibilities.
The thing I don't see as appropriate is the concept of notifying someone about an emergency when the person having the emergency (and needing immediate local help) is in a different country (holiday or business is largely irrelevant).
HTH
LGC
