This is National Diabetes Awareness Month. You can see what events are in your area at the ADA website. The goal is to raise awareness of effects of diabetes. That said, you can’t move forward until you know were you’ve been. I may’ve made that up but, as the year winds down, let’s look at some promising technology from 1999.
From the National Diabetes Clearing House - Diabetes Dateline 1999
Amira Medical’s New Blood Glucose Testing Device Now Available
The Food and Drug Administration has approved Amira Medical’s new AtLast Blood Glucose System, now available for consumer use. The AtLast system allows patients to accurately monitor their blood glucose levels without the pain of sticking their fingers to get blood samples.
The system is the first to contain both a lancing device and a blood glucose meter all in one. It uses a unique, disposable test strip to obtain blood samples from the forearm, thigh, or upper arm, areas that have fewer nerve endings and are therefore less sensitive than fingertips.
A clinical study among patients with diabetes found that they preferred arm/thigh testing to fingersticks and that 90 percent experienced less pain or no pain with the AtLast system.
That was great in 1999 but, most newer glucose meters including the WaveSense, Prodigy and TrueTrack (available from Blue Sparrow Medical under $20 for a box of 50 strips) all feature alternate site testing.
Inhaled Insulin
Pfizer Inc and Hoechst Marion Roussel AG have announced that they have entered into agreements to manufacture insulin and jointly develop and promote inhaled insulin worldwide.
The first major, multicenter clinical trials successfully using the new inhaled form of insulin to treat the two most common types of diabetes were reported on last summer at the American Diabetes Association’s 58th Annual Scientific Sessions.
Under the agreement, Pfizer and Hoechst said they would construct a jointly owned manufacturing plant in Frankfurt, Germany.
Anything that could reduce or eliminate the need for multiple daily insulin shots would be welcome news for people with diabetes. Insulin normally cannot be taken by mouth because the pills are digested in the stomach, which renders them useless as a hormone.
By minimizing the need for injections, the user-friendly option of inhaled insulin can broaden the use of insulin in patients with type 1 and type 2 diabetes. Phase II studies have demonstrated that inhaled insulin is as effective as regular injectable insulin and that inhaled insulin results in better control for patients who are not well controlled through oral agents.
We all know how well inhaled insulin went, see our article on exubera.
FDA Approves Home Use of Laser for Diabetes
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved a laser device that people with diabetes can use in place of the traditional lancet to draw blood for monitoring blood sugar.
The device, which is manufactured by Cell Robotics Inc. of Albuquerque, New Mexico, is called the Lasette. It is a portable, battery-operated device that uses a YAG laser to pierce the skin, a nearly painless means of drawing blood for glucose testing. The device can be used in the home after patients have received a prescription and instruction from their health care provider.
Currently, many people with diabetes must prick their fingers with a lancet once or twice a day to monitor blood sugar levels. This can be especially difficult for children.
According to the FDA, “Clinical testing has shown that adequately trained patients can perform finger pinpricks with the laser device as easily and accurately as with lancets.”
Wow! I know you are wondering if Blue Sparrow Medical has this device for sale. A laser device that provides a nearly pain free way to draw blood. So, let’s look at Cell Robotics, Inc the company that made it. Their lancing device cost was about $1094.00 when it was released. So, you have $1094 dollar device that basically does what a $12 lancing device does. Now, lancing needles are much smaller. The wavesense lancets are 33g and the smallest on the market. Most users report that they hardly notice the prick and they usually get the lancet for about $3 from Blue Sparrow Medical. I guess that would explain why Cell Robotics went out of business in ’04.
