Smart Diabetes Tester

[Guest guest]

This article doesn't say this product is accessible but maybe if enough of

us e-mail the man in charge they might change their minds.

Dean

RA Innovations - 10/08/2003: Smart Diabetes Tester

[This is the print version of story

http://www.abc.net.au/ra/innovations/stories/s921403.htm]

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10 August 2003

Smart Diabetes Tester

It is estimated there are 175 million diabetics worldwide and with an

innovative diabetes blood glucose meter soon available, many of them can

have their

medical checks made easier. The Betachek G5T is a blood monitoring meter

that can test blood glucose in just five seconds and is the first to utilise

smartcard

technology.

Science and Technology:Engineering

Contact: Bransgrove, Product Manager

National Diagnostic Products Pty Ltd., 7-9 Merriwa Street, Gordon, NSW 2072.

Australia

International Telephone: FAX: +61 2] 9418 1181

Email:

@...

Website:

http://www.biodiagnostics.com/g5.htm

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TRANSCRIPT:

BLANCH : Developed by National Diagnostic Products, the Sydney-based

manufacturer of blood glucose tests for diabetes, their in-house research

team has

created a meter that is the first to utilise smartcard technology. The

diabetes blood glucose recorder's Project Manager is Bransgrove. So

,

first I think an explanation for those of us unfamiliar with the diabetic's

necessity for knowing their blood glucose level, how is this important to

their

health?

BRANSGROVE : Well, it's been established basically through some long term

studies, primarily one in America called a DCCT trial, that if people with

diabetes

keep their blood sugar levels at near normal levels they're able to lead

essentially normal lives and stave off any of the complications of diabetes

such

as heart disease and kidney and liver damage and by monitoring their glucose

levels they're able to, with blood glucose test strips and meters, they're

able to achieve that.

BLANCH : How often do they need to test themselves?

BRANSGROVE : Well, it depends on the type of diabetes that they have. There

are two essential types - Type I and Type 2. Type 1 generally is referred to

as Juvenile Diabetes or it's-- in America now almost, having to change its

name because there are teenagers getting it and that is where you get

insulin

shortages to the extent where you need to inject and then there's Type 2

Diabetes which is not as severe and you can generally control it with diet

and

exercise and the majority - 80 per cent of diabetics have Type 2 and they

need to test only around two times a day whereas insulin dependent diabetics

or Type 1 need to test almost four to six times a day because they're

injecting insulin.

BLANCH : So up until now what technology's available for these tests?

BRANSGROVE : Home blood glucose testing is conducted using small handheld

battery operated meters and test strips and these can be purchased through

pharmacies

and that's essentially what people use.

BLANCH : Now there's a world first in this story in that the Betachek G5T is

the first device to incorporate smartcard technology, so what does that do?

BRANSGROVE : The smartcard enables the meter to store all of the test

results with time and date and prior to this, meters have had to have a non

or a volatile

memory which means that the diabetic would have to record the results before

they are lost. By having a smartcard in the meter it really enabling the

diabetic

to have a permanent record of those test results.

BLANCH : And how many blood glucose readings can the smartcard chip store?

BRANSGROVE : Well, each pack of tests, there are 50 tests in a pack and each

pack comes with a smartcard and that can store 50 results.

BLANCH : So walk us through how the device is used by a diabetic.

BRANSGROVE : You take a pack of strips, remove the smartcard which comes in

the cap, plug it into the meter, it confirms by a visual display that the

smartcard

is in and that it's the correct one for that batch of strips. You then put a

test strip into the meter and apply a drop of blood and that's it.

BLANCH : Now how much blood does your device need compared to other systems

on the market?

BRANSGROVE : Well, it takes a very small drop of blood, around two

microlitres which is about the size of a pin head and that's comparable with

other products

that are on the market, but there are some products that have got more -

take 10 to 15 microlitres.

BLANCH : Now cost is very much a factor in blood glucose meters, how

competitive is your meter with what is currently available?

BRANSGROVE : Well, it's very competitive and that was one of our goals in

developing this meter from the beginning, that we be competitive on price as

well

as on features, so we've been able to, without compromising on any of the

features, we've been able to incorporate just about all of the different

features

that you'd need without blowing out the price.

BLANCH : Has the smartcard technology pushed up the price of the unit

perhaps to the point that it would be out of reach of health care

professionals in

say, third world countries?

BRANSGROVE : Well no, that's part of the solution that we found in, really,

piggy backing off this existing technology. Because it's almost becoming

ubiquitous

now and it's found in telephones, mobile telephones as well as telephone

cards, it's relatively reasonably priced and it's also designed for mass

production,

so we found that we've been able to bring the price right down.

BLANCH : This device is very much your baby - why did you develop it now,

because of all this technology coming on stream, is that it?

BRANSGROVE : Yeah, we essentially looked at all of the technology and added

up the various components that would be needed and we initially, probably

going

back when this project was first conceived three or four years ago, had to

wait off because we thought that if we went ahead we wouldn't be competitive

on price and having waited for the various pieces of technology to emerge we

then, about a year ago, got this thing together.

BLANCH : Your company, National Diagnostic Products, is a privately owned

Australian company with 95 per cent of product exported, so what reaction

have

you had to the Betachek G5T recorder as far as orders are concerned?

BRANSGROVE : Well, we launched it in " Medico " which is a big medical

exhibition in Dusseldorf in Germany and once it was launched it was received

very well

there and we've had orders from many countries. We already sell to around 40

countries and probably about half of those have already placed orders.

BLANCH : The device won this year's Australian Design Award of the Year,

that's the top award and with the United States Centre for Disease Control

and

Prevention reporting that they expect there'll be about 300 million people

worldwide with diabetes by the year 2025, how soon will this device be

available?

BRANSGROVE : Well, it's going to be available in Australia in November and

soon after that we'll be exporting it.

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