Developing a Cutting-Edge Glucose Management System

In June, Monarch Medical Technologies announced that its EndoTool glucose management system offered substantial sustained improvements in blood sugar levels in patients. Offering patient-specific glycemic control, the EndoTool system can model, predict, and adapt insulin doses to the individual.

Here, MPMN editor Brian Buntz interviews Wilson Constantine, the CEO of Monarch Medical Technologies. Constantine provides advice on creating personalized medical devices and how the company developed its unique EndoTool system. 

MPMN: Could you summarize the design and development process of the EndoTool Glucose Management System?

Constantine: Our design process for EndoTool follows the ISO standards to which most software companies currently strive to adhere, but we take those standards a step or two further. The development of our products is truly a team effort that begins with the most important team members, the patients and the users. We have discovered that without this primary focus, we will not be able to meet our fundamental goals, the safety and quality of the products we design.

MPMN: The device is the result of collaboration between clinicians and engineers. Do you have any advice on how those two parties can collaborate more effectively?

Constantine: It is vital for the team to understand that they are truly speaking different languages. We have been fortunate to have team members who have skills in both areas, which lessens this barrier but does not eliminate the issue. We strive to keep this awareness in all of our communications and we have learned that providing, and asking for, clarification and detail are the keys to success.
 

MPMN: What unmet need is the product intended to solve? What challenges were encountered in its development and how were they solved?

Constantine: There are numerous challenges for both the inpatient and outpatient environments when managing care and medication administration, particularly when dealing with high-risk medications like insulin. Like any medication, the five rights to medication administration are always key. EndoTool focuses on not only assuring the correct amount is recommended, but on insulin dosing at the right time by the right route and for the right patient. We do this by providing the application with abilities like bar code scanning for patient identification and clinical decision support guidance when unusual circumstances occur. These are only two of the dozens of risk mitigators we employ. And, of course, there is our software solution's proprietary Model Predictive Control technology, which significantly differentiates EndoTool from all other methods being used in the healthcare environment today.

MPMN: Building on the above question, do you have any advice to other medical device developers looking to create more personalized products?

Constantine: Never forget the why. That is the best advice I can give. To me, the "why" is the child in a hospital bed who should be outside playing or the mother that should be at home with her family. The why is personal, it is individualized, it is the person who needs our help to get back to those they love and who love them. These products are not about the best math or the best programming. They are about the people who use them and the patients that benefit from their use. When you realize that, it becomes more about making a complete system, not just a product. 

Brian Buntz is the editor-in-chief of MPMN and Qmed. Follow him on Twitter at @brian_buntz.