www.Israel21c.org is an interesting website that tracks technology advances … and on November 14, 2017, World Diabetes Day, this was their post, touching on oral insulin capsules to non-invasive glucose monitors, written by Abigail Klein Leichman. Here are some significant diabetes developments reported in Israel in recent years.
- Oramed Pharmaceuticals
Oramed Pharmaceuticals hopes to revolutionize the treatment of type 1 and type 2 diabetes through its proprietary oral insulin capsule developed through research at Jerusalem’s Hadassah Medical Center. Currently, insulin must be injected.
- DarioHealth
Dario makes a personalized, pocket-sized, all-in-one glucose meter coupled with a real-time mobile app to track, monitor and manage diabetes from a smartphone. Last month, this Caesarea-based digital health company received the CE Mark for its Lightning-enabled Dario Blood Glucose Monitoring System, which will enable European consumers to use the metering device on the latest Apple devices.
- Betalin Therapeutics
Betalin is developing an implantable engineered micro-pancreas (EMP) using a natural micro-scaffold and all the cellular components present in a natural pancreas. These cells reconstruct the body’s internal insulin-producing capability in accordance with the blood-sugar levels. Type 1 and severe type 2 diabetes patients implanted with the micro-pancreas would no longer need to monitor their blood-sugar levels.
In preclinical studies in a mouse model of diabetes, approximately 70% of the mice in which the Betalin EMP was implanted did not need further insulin injections even for the longest period tested of 90 days after implantation.
- GlucoTrack
The GlucoTrack sensor clips onto your earlobe. A patented combination of ultrasonic, electromagnetic and thermal technologies works with a proprietary algorithm to measure physiological parameters correlated with glucose level.
Results are displayed within about a minute on a USB-connected handheld control unit, which also stores and compares previous readings. The number is announced verbally, facilitating use by elderly and vision-impaired people with type 2 diabetes or pre-diabetes.Integrity Applications of Ashdod put more than a decade into developing GlucoTrack, a revolutionary noninvasive system for self-monitoring glucose levels, available so far in several European countries, South Korea and Israel.
Another Israeli company, Cnoga Medical, offers a prick-free glucometer that uses a camera to observe changing color shades of the user’s finger to give accurate results comparable to those of a fingerprick, following a short “training” period in which the device learns to correlate the user’s optical skin-tone characteristics with camera readings. The COG device is certified in Israel, Europe, New Zealand, Turkey, India, Philippines, Thailand, Brazil and China.
- Sweetch
The Sweetch app, now in clinical trials at Johns Hopkins Medical Center in Maryland, predicts personal diabetes risk and encourages long-term behavioral change to prevent diabetes. According to the Tel Aviv-based company, 79 million American and 63 million EU adults are pre-diabetic; 70% of these will convert to diabetes within a decade. However, 150 active minutes per week has proven, in large clinical trials, to reduce pre-diabetes to diabetes conversion by 58%.
- Insulog
Many diabetics manually log their insulin injections to avoid over- or under-dosing. Insulog is a small device that snaps onto all major brands of disposable insulin pens to display the user’s most recent data. Insulog’s smartphone app uses Bluetooth technology to store injection history, including number of units administered, and blood-glucose level. Users can share this history with their physician. The company was founded in 2014 in Ramat Gan by Menash Michael, who has type 1 diabetes. He is developing the device for delivery in 2018 following a successful Indiegogo campaign earlier this year.
7. DreaMed Diabetes
Based in Petah Tikva, DreaMed has two products: Advisor decision-support technology to optimize and fine-tune patient-specific insulin treatment plans (FDA and CE approval pending); and Glucositter, the first artificial pancreas system to receive the CE Mark for sales in Europe. When integrated with an insulin pump, Glucositter provides round-the-clock monitoring of glucose levels and precise, real-time adjustment of insulin levels.
- Nutrino Health
Nutrino Health, the digital healthcare Biomed Startup of the Year winner at MIXii 2017, has developed an app (for iOS and Android) that creates a digital individualized FoodPrint using data from the user’s medical devices, wearables, activity sensors and other biological markers. Taking into account personal parameters such as allergies, food preferences and more, the system offers menus and foods especially adapted to the user, and helps diabetics understand how food affects the management of glucose levels in their blood.
The free version of the app allows users to log food, exercise and medication and track these measures according to goals, taste preferences and dietary needs. They also receive access to personalized daily health tips. Premium features include a personalized meal planner, custom diet options, full recipe browser, suggestions on healthy dishes from nearby restaurants.
- DayTwo
DayTwo, based on groundbreaking research at Israel’s Weizmann Institute of Science, aims to help people avoid developing diabetes by predicting individualized blood-glucose response to thousands of different foods and meals based on gut microbiome analysis and other personal parameters.
- Super enzyme detects glucose level
Researchers at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev have engineered a “super enzyme” that, if commercialized, could make blood-glucose checks easier and more accurate than the standard method of mixing a protein with a drop of blood to cause a chemical reaction. The research was reported in the Journal of the American Chemical Society in September 2017.
Read more: 10 advances transforming the lives of diabetics worldwide
Hmm, some interesting, some ahh sort of ridiculous in their current format. Regardless of what finally happens, all have some place even if that place is not in my diabetes cupboard.
Now, i have to say, as I always say, all the tech int he world will not mean a thing if we do not have affordable insulin. Lets hope that happens as soon as possible as well.
It’s always frustrating to hear parts of the world have new medical technology when the FDA takes forever and a day. With the rapid roll out of life enhancing tech the aFDA needs to streamline its processes. Some of these new Diabetic technologies sound very hopeful.