DiabetesMine 2019 Innovation Summit: The Latest in Diabetes Technology

By Jimmy McDermott and Albert Cai

The first ever “Closed Loop Showcase”; Ascensia’s diabetes coaching and bundled program; excitement for Undermyfork app

The diaTribe team was on the ground at UCSF Mission Bay for DiabetesMine’s 2019 Innovation Summit to bring you the latest highlights in diabetes technology. We applaud DiabetesMine for an incredible few days of learning! Read on for a few of the highlights.

Closed Loop Showcase

The first ever “Closed Loop Showcase” featured updates on many of the new automated insulin delivery systems (AID) expected over the next few years from Medtronic, Tandem, Insulet, Tidepool, Beta Bionics, Bigfoot, and DIY. Because there was so much information on the latest closed loop systems, we decided to break down each of these systems in a separate article. Check it out here: Automated Insulin Delivery Systems Coming in 2020.

Ascensia’s Diabetes Coaching System

Ascensia unveiled its “diabetes coaching system,” which will be offered in 2020 as a package that includes unlimited test strips, an app with personal coaching, a Bluetooth-enabled Contour Next blood glucose meter (BGM), and lancets. The program is focused on small behavior changes, called “bursts,” in areas like exercise, stress, sleep, food, and diabetes management (e.g., taking fingersticks). Users work with coaches to create quick, achievable, measurable bursts, and then focus on one burst at a time to build success.

To learn about other ways to get unlimited test strips and personalized diabetes coaching, check out our article here.

UndermyFork

diaTribe was excited to see Undermyfork featured at the conference. Adam wrote about Undermyfork earlier this year – it’s an app that combines meal photos with CGM data so that people with diabetes can see how their food affects blood glucose levels and time in range. So far, the iPhone app can take data from Dexcom continuous glucose monitor (CGM) via Apple Health, FreeStyle Libre for those using the off-label Miao Miao/BluCon add-on, and several blood glucose meters. The company is working towards integrating data from all CGM. Here are some 2020 updates to look forward to:

• Insulin logging will be added (the most requested feature).

• Android app will become available.

• Alerts on iPhone and Android (“You tend to go low at night when your last meal was before 8pm”).

• Blood glucose prediction in 2020-2021 (“What will my blood sugar be if I eat an apple and take one unit of insulin”).