A brief overview of this year’s virtual Advanced Technology for the Treatment of Diabetes (ATTD’s) technology section. By Sue Marshall
Many of these are in development and may not reach the market or may take a while to do so. We’ll keep you updated if they do become available in the UK as and when we hear such news. This is a selection of what was presented this year along with some updates on products that we’ve covered before but that have advanced in their progress to market.
Insulin pumps & sets
AMF Medical’s mission is to offer “Simply, better life for people with diabetes”. Sigi is a novel ‘plug & go…’ patch pump, designed for open-protocol closed looping. Sigi
Sigi pump
is designed to be the smallest, lightest, Type 1 diabetes patch pump, ergonomically developed for easy and convenient handling, as well as on-body application and reliable extended-wear comfort.
Advanced Microfluidics SA (AMF) was founded in 2014 in Lausanne (Switzerland), and remains located on the campus of EPFL, one of Europe’s most vibrant and bright science and technology institutions. The company’s mission to create next-generation microfluidic automation technologies based on unmet end-user needs has made AMF a go-to partner for research and industry laboratories worldwide. Inspired by the quest for excellence of Swiss watchmaking, AMF has built a reputation for its ability to create easy-to-use micro-pumps with nanoliter-precision (1 billionth of a litre).
Sigi works with already available prefilled insulin cartridges. Simply insert a new insulin cartridge into the patch pump and click it back on. It is controlled directly from the person’s personal smartphone. Sigi will connect with CGMs through interoperability protocols. The manufacturers claim market-leading accuracy combined with ultra-fast occlusion detection, making it the new safety standard for insulin pump delivery.
Terumo patch pump
Terumo is a medical device company offering diverse medical devices and services globally. This year is Terumo’s 100th anniversary though it started its diabetes business in 1982 to continuously develop various blood glucose meters and needles for insulin pens. Then in 2018 the company launched an insulin patch pump into its native Japanese market to meet the various needs of patients and medical professionals. This year Terumo introduced its first detachable insulin patch pump called ‘Medisafe With’.
SteadiFlow Technology by Capillary Biomedical is intended to improve the predictability and reliability of insulin pump therapy by. Capillary Biomedical, Inc. (CapBio) introducing the SteadiSet with SteadiFlow Technology. This is designed for reliable, comfortable seven-day wear. With SteadiFlow technology, the set is designed to keep on working, so the wearer can worry less about high blood sugars potentially being caused by an infusion set. Paul Strasma is the Founder, President and CEO of Capillary Biomedical. He received an MBA from Sloan School of Management has authored over a dozen patents and academic publications in the field of diabetes technology.
Other technologies
Sokru is a CRM sensor from Lakka Health based in Finland. The company’s stated aim is that continuous monitoring should be available for all, easily, and cost efficiently. The company’s founder, Sami Lakka, says, “At Lakka Health we are developing a disruptive innovation for diabetes monitoring: completely non-invasive and wearable sensor system which detects abrupt changes in blood sugar levels. Our sensing method was inspired by trained hypo-dogs which can detect changes in blood sugar from vo
Sokru sensor
latile organic compounds that come into your skin. Similarly, our device continuously monitors these compounds and provides you notification if sudden changes occur. Our device is a reliable partner like a hypo-dog. It constantly monitors you or your child’s health, whether it is day or night. We aim for it to be affordable, so everyone can access it.”
The technology and device under development involve a small and needle-free sensor unit with a comfortable and disposable patch, which ought to lessen skin irritation. It will ‘guard and notify’ users as to changes in blood glucose levels.
Undermyfork is a medical software startup with a mission is to ease the burden of daily diabetes care by helping people with diabetes make healthier nutrition choices. This could increase their time spent in Time-in-Range which can mean avoiding or delaying the onset of diabetes complications. We are building a personalized nutrition care platform for people with diabetes, diabetes caregivers, healthcare professionals and researchers.
Luminal Coating of Intestines (LuCI) a potential novel anti-obesity and Type 2 diabetes disease-modifying therapy by AltrixBio. The aim of AltrixBio is to provide a disease-modifying therapeutic with no systemic side-effects for patients with Type 2 diabetes and other metabolic diseases. The company is advancing developing its product, LuCI AJN 003, on order to be able to use it in clinic from 2022.
AI-Powered Decision Support for Diabetic Retinopathy, Emagix is developing novel technology for advancing the prevention of blindness in diabetic patients — a complication caused by abnormalities in the blood vessels of the retina. Since the early diagnosis of such vascular abnormalities is critical for timely treatment and blindness prevention, the Emagix team has developed a software for early and accurate diagnosis of vascular abnormalities in the retina using sophisticated image analysis and artificial intelligence. Dr. Alon Friedman is the founder and CEO of Emagix and has been studying microvascular pathologies for the past 15 years. His research has revealed major insights into the role of microvascular dysfunction in diseases of the eye and the brain. It has established novel AI-based tools for reliable detection of microvascular abnormalities. In 2016, Dr. Friedman founded Emagix with the goal to translate these new AI technologies into clinical use. Emagix’s first product – RetiCAD, is designed to help ophthalmologists detect the vascular abnormalities of diabetic retinopathy in order to help prevent sight damage in patients with diabetes.
