Roche Debuts Bolus Calculator App and Bluetooth-Enabled Meter

Twitter Summary: @AccuchekUS Accu-Chek Connect: step towards seamless transfer of blood glucose data and the first FDA-cleared bolus-advising mobile platform

Big news for people on multiple daily injections: at the 2015 Practical Ways to Achieve Targets in Diabetes Care (ATDC) conference in Keystone, Colorado, Roche led a hands-on workshop that debuted the Accu-Chek Connect blood glucose meter and paired smartphone app. The Bluetooth-enabled meter and accompanying app represent the first FDA-cleared mobile platform that offers insulin-dosing recommendations, a huge win for those on insulin injections (the majority of patients) who don’t have access to a bolus calculator on an insulin pump. The meter is expected to launch on August 7, and will be available for $29.99 exclusively at Walgreens. The accompanying app is free for Apple and Android devices, and is already available for download. It will require the meter in order to use the wireless feature and setup with a healthcare provider in order to activate the bolus advice option. 

Though there are other smartphone- and cellular-connected meters available (e.g., iBGStar, iHealth, OneTouch VerioSync, Livongo, Telcare), the Accu-Chek Connect meter is the first to offer bolus-advising software. Studies have shown that a majority of manually-calculated insulin doses are incorrect, so having a bolus calculator built-in to this system may help those on daily injections more accurately calculate the right dose of insulin – right now this requires a lot of mental math based on current BG, target BG, number of carbs, insulin:carb ratio, and insulin sensitivity factor. The bolus calculator section of the Connect app will require a healthcare provider activation code to ensure that it is setup properly, meaning patients won’t be able to use it without working with a provider first. That’s a safety move, and perhaps it will change over time. This is the brand’s second product to offer a built-in bolus-calculating feature, the first being the Accu-Chek Aviva Expert meter launched last year.

The paired smartphone Connect app – which talks to the meter via Bluetooth – also includes:

• Notifications: glucose readings can be sent via automatically generated text messages to up to ten additional mobile devices – great for parents and spouses!

• A paired testing screen to log pre/post tests (e.g., before, after exercise). 

• Screens showing time in-range (one of our favorite metrics!) and average number of tests per day.

• The ability to add pictures of meals to the standard log of carbs and insulin doses.

• Transmission of the glucose data to an online web portal, which should help physicians.

We look forward to trying the Accu-Chek Connect system once it launches in August. –NK/AB