A Digital Ecosystem of Diabetes Data and Technology

Abstract

The management of type 1 diabetes (T1D) ideally involves regimented measurement of various health signals; constant interpretation of diverse kinds of data; and consistent cohesion between patients, caregivers, and health care professionals (HCPs). In the context of myriad factors that influence blood glucose dynamics for each individual patient (eg, medication, activity, diet, stress, sleep quality, hormones, environment), such coordination of self-management and clinical care is a great challenge, amplified by the routine unavailability of many types of data thought to be useful in diabetes decision-making. While much remains to be understood about the physiology of diabetes and blood glucose dynamics at the level of the individual, recent and emerging medical and consumer technologies are helping the diabetes community to take great strides toward truly personalized, real-time, data-driven management of this chronic disease. This review describes "connected" technologies-such as smartphone apps, and wearable devices and sensors-which comprise part of a new digital ecosystem of data-driven tools that can link patients and their care teams for precision management of diabetes. These connected technologies are rich sources of physiologic, behavioral, and contextual data that can be integrated and analyzed in "the cloud" for research into personal models of glycemic dynamics, and employed in a multitude of applications for mobile health (mHealth) and telemedicine in diabetes care.

Patient-Driven Diabetes Care of the Future in the Technology Era

“…These devices are increasingly incorporating Bluetooth capabilities to wirelessly transmit blood glucose data directly to users' smartphones. These data can be easily shared electronically with their doctors, facilitating remote diabetes monitoring (Heintzman, 2015).…”

One Drop | Mobile on iPhone and Apple Watch: An Evaluation of HbA1c Improvement Associated With Tracking Self-Care

“…The digital diabetes ecosystem is booming [ 1 , 2 ], with more than 1500 mobile apps supporting diabetes management [ 3 ], yet very few diabetes apps have been studied. For the few that have, they significantly reduce glycated hemoglobin A 1c (HbA 1c ) by an average 0.49% [ 4 ].…”

“…Diabetes apps offer tracking of self-care and can educate and motivate people to better care for their health [ 1 ]. Together, the widely used diabetes apps rate highly in terms of functionality, aesthetics, and engagement [ 7 ].…”

Towards gadget-free internet services: A roadmap of the Naked world

“…This phase extends the use of wearable devices, termed wearables in this paper. Wearables are slowly and gradually replacing gadgets but the development of wearables is still in the early stages [11]. From the last decade wearable technology is improving and playing a vital role in healthcare, military and personal assistance [12], [13].…”