Fitness wearables company Fitbit, based in San Francisco, and Dublin, Ireland-based Medtronic, a medical device company, have teamed up to integrate health and activity tracking for patients living with diabetes and their physicians and care teams.
The two companies have developed a mobile app, the iPro2 myLog app, that will enable patients living with type 2 diabetes to view their glucose levels and physical activity data in one application. The app collects data from continuous glucose monitors (CGM) and Fitbit activity trackers to provide patients information on how exercise impacts glucose levels for diabetes care management.
Maintaining and tracking glucose levels is critical to effectively managing diabetes, according to a press release from both companies. For people living with type 2 diabetes, understanding how exercise affects glucose levels is a critical element to proper glucose management and long-term health.
Additionally, many patients are manually tracking and recording their physical activity, requiring them to recall and communicate that information to their physician from memory.
According to Fitbit and Medtronic, the new mobile app enables type 2 diabetes patients to combine data generated by their Fitbit activity tracker and Medtronic’s iPro2 professional CGM system, eliminating the need to enter physical activity data manually, and provides information how exercise impacts glucose levels. The mobile app also enables the sharing of information with a patient’s healthcare team.
“We believe monitoring glucose is a critical element in the management of diabetes and therefore, glucose should be included among other vital signs. As such, it has never been more important to increase the collaboration between healthcare and technology to simplify daily diabetes management for the 29 million patients living with type 2 diabetes in the United States,” Laura Stoltenberg, vice president and general manager of non-intensive diabetes therapies at Medtronic, said in a statement. “By creating a connection between physical activity and glucose levels, our iPro2 myLog mobile app solution provides new tools and insights, so that physicians can optimize therapy and patients can better understand how to manage their diabetes.”
Adam Pellegrini, vice president of digital health for Fitbit, said in a statement, “We believe the integration of wearable technology with professional diagnostic tools can provide a more accurate and actionable view of a patient’s physical activity.”
Author: Heather Landi