Friday, September 22, 2006

Folks in our trials tell me they really like the GlucoMONTM for its real-time alerts and the fact that it isn't limited to the home. It goes with you during your day. Our current trials are the best examples of pervasive technology at play outside of the hospital for people with medical conditions.

As with everything, the current generation GlucoMON has its pros and cons. There is no one size fits all. As such, one thing we realized a while ago is the opportunity to leverage Wi-Fi networks through their many 'access points' scattered here and there.

If you already have a home wireless network or you've seen those geeks with their laptops in Starbucks you can imagine a day when a medical device might just borrow the high-speed wireless connection for a few seconds to communicate with the remote monitoring center.

Diabetech is working on technical specifications (Wi-MedTM) to beef up our devices and the other technology involved to ensure a secure and seemless user experience just like the current GlucoMON. The big difference is that we can close coverage gaps where we need them as well as move into higher bandwidth applications---like real-time streaming video related to your real-time disease state. Our current research has shown us how to use this technology as a new feature to deliver improved outcomes even beyond what we've already demonstrated.

Our Mesh Wi-Fi Medical Device Testbed is now alive and kickin' in Deep Ellum. This is an old blues neighborhood full of eclectic shops and nightclubs and more and more residents living in lofts - the edgy side of downtown Dallas!

So next time you logon to the Internet with your wireless laptop, think about Diabetech as the company leading the wireless healthcare industry by automatically connecting your glucose meter, insulin pump, blood pressure monitor, implanted cardio-defibrilator, ECG event recorder, etc... to your virtual logbook, doctors, nurses and family members. Several years ago someone said to me after a JDRF event following a talk on the GlucoMON; "Hey, that sounds like OnStar for diabetes!" I said, "Better."