Healthcare Technology Featured Article

January 24, 2014

Sensaris Offers World First in Blood Glucose/Temperature Data Systems


There's often something to be said for combining things. Putting a clock and a radio together, for example, and then later adding the ability to interface an MP3 player with such a device is one example. Combinations of separate items can make the whole easier to work with, more efficient, and overall, more effective. That's what Sensaris looks to offer with its new device, something of a world first that brings together the combination of temperature data and blood glucose measurement in a new single device.

Sensaris' new device, regarded as the first ever dual-mode Bluetooth and Bluetooth Smart interface, serves as a means to not only monitor blood glucose, but also monitor body temperature all at the same time. The new device allows for an easy way to perform blood glucose monitoring via a smartphone, thanks to its ability to connect with the Lifescan One Touch Ultra 2 glucometer, as well as its ability to interact with non-contact infrared thermometers.

Better, this sort of interoperability allows for future app development; the “2for2” device--as it's called, owing to its two different modes of connection to two different devices—even boasts an API that allows app makers to bring in both glucose and temperature data into the same space, in either iOS or Android flavors.

Sensaris' Dr. Michael Setton offered comment on the device, saying “By using the Bluetooth Low Energy technology and combining with existing medical devices Sensaris has made the existing technology more patient friendly. The first combined device will be available for the veterinary market and will migrate to human use when FDA and CE certification are obtained. This is an important strategic step for patients as a December 2013 study by Allied Marked Research indicated that the blood glucose meter market is likely to capture the lion’s share of the world mHealth market in the next few years.”

This is an approach that makes plenty of sense when viewed through the lens of the larger overall market. Not only is there a clear demand for monitoring devices that work well with familiar platforms like those offered by smartphones, there's also an interest in combining devices for easier overall use. When there's a thermometer and a glucometer essentially combined into one platform, it's one less thing that needs to be on hand, especially if the device in question works as well as two separate devices. That reduces the amount of time needed to interact with devices to get the data needed, which—when aggregated over several hundred instances—can represent some serious time savings over the long run. Saved time can be more productive than the alternative, and that represents potential savings on other fronts as well, particularly if some of those fronts are set in doctor's offices.

While the combined device from Sensaris may not save the healthcare system as we know it, it's likely to prove helpful for those who need temperature and blood glucose data all in one swoop. Even a small savings is better than none, and for those who need it, it's a development that likely can't come too soon.




Edited by Cassandra Tucker
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