Wearable and Implantable IT 4253

INFORMATION TECHNOLOGIES

Last year, Cambridge Consultants (Boston) and Philips announced a prototype wireless diabetes monitor using an emerging wireless standard called near field communication (NFC). The wireless system synchronizes a patient-worn insulin pump and a glucometer that together check a patient's levels, then deliver the right amount of insulin. Cambridge Consultants reports that the device is one of the first wireless medical applications for diabetes and also one of the first medical uses of the NFC standard, which to date has been mainly deployed for micropayments and mass-transit uses abroad.

Last year, Medtronic Inc. (Minneapolis) announced FDA approval of the MiniMed Paradigm real-time insulin pump and continuous glucose monitoring system, marking what the company called a major step toward an artifical pancreas. In addition to providing insulin infusion therapy, the system also monitors the patient's glucose levels and relays readings every five nimutes from a glucose sensor to the insulin pump. The system can also alert the patient when glucose levels reach preset high or low glucose thresholds.

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