August 5, 2009

From The News Wire: Accu-Chek Continua Certified

MobiHealthNews.com reportes that Roche's Accu Chek Pix Device Reader earned Continua certification. Hopefully this is a step towards data standardization.


Diabetes management tools just got a step closer to medical device interoperability.

A few hours after news broke that A&D Medical’s Bluetooth-enabled blood pressure cuff and Bluetooth-enabled weight scale had received Continua Health Alliance’s stamp of interoperability, the organization announced that Roche Diagnostics’ Accu-Chek Smart Pix Device Reader, which currently interfaces with blood glucose meters and insulin pumps to transfer data from the devices to the user’s computer, gained Continua certification for USB connectivity.

The Smart Pix device connects to the computer with a USB cord but it interacts with the medical devices via infrared. Once the data transfers to the computer a report appears in the user’s default Internet browser to be saved later, printed out or simply viewed on screen. Roche says the system helps diabetics make timely and well-informed decisions about day-to-day self-care.


So what the heck is a Smart Pix? Roche's web store says:

With the ACCU-CHEK Smart Pix Device Reader, you can quickly collect data from your ACCU-CHEK blood glucose meter or insulin pump, create easy-to-understand charts to analyze your diabetes management program and act on self-care goals.
By making the most of the valuable data held within your blood glucose meter and insulin pump, you can make timely, well-informed decisions about your day-to-day self-care. These efforts can pay off today as you have more energy and feel your best, and down the road with a reduced risk of long-term diabetes complications. 1

Just set your meter or insulin pump near the reader, and the ACCU-CHEK Smart Pix system does the rest. It's truly plug and play for greater convenience and faster downloads—there's no software installation or special knowledge required. You can set personal targets, time ranges and preferred report styles, and print out reports and graphs to share with your healthcare team.

Download directly to your PC

The ACCU-CHEK Smart Pix Device Reader is compatible with:

ACCU-CHEK Compact Plus blood glucose meter
ACCU-CHEK Aviva blood glucose me
ACCU-CHEK Spirit insulin pump
ACCU-CHEK Advantage blood glucose meter
ACCU-CHEK Compact blood glucose meter
ACCU-CHEK Active blood glucose me
Disetronic D-TRONplus insulin pump
ACCU-CHEK 3600 data management system


I think that means it is a $125 dongle. What it does and what gets the "standardized data" treatment I don't know. Continua's big shot dude told me that there will not be continua standards for pumps until the Continua 2.0 release some time like next summer. So how does this costly IR to USB dongle deal with their pump and what data gets dealt with how?

I'll try to find out more.

Here is some initial things that make me go Hmmm.
- $125 for a an IR dongle. Ouch
- IR? Hello what is with the dongle in a Bluetooth world.
- PC what about MAC, hell what about iPhone.
- What are the reports coming out of a PC app a browser based app?
- What are the reports?
- - (UPDATE looks like sample reports here)

- How does the data standardization of Continua help us share data between our diabetes toys?

1 comment :

  1. Bennet

    I'm waiting for Roche to send me the Accu-Chek 360. From talking with a technical support person apparently this isn't just any IR dongle, it's 'special' for Accu-Chek. That made me see red. When are device companies going to realize that special means expensive because they can't make it in enough volume. Sometimes I wonder what device engineers are smoking.

    I'll let you know more once I get it. I don't know how much it differs from the Smart Pix.

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