Practo Transform Diabetes Remission Programme
Practo Transform brings a unique integration of modern-day medical technology with the age-old wisdom of yoga and other fitness regimes. This plan is structured on the recommendations of the American Diabetes Association and Diabetes UK. The recommendations are based on the learnings from the DiRECT trial which is the cornerstone in the field of diabetes remission.
Continuous Glucose Monitoring
CGM systems track glucose levels, every few minutes, 24/7 through a tiny sensor inserted under your skin, either on your abdomen or arm using an automatic inserter. The sensor measures your interstitial glucose level, which is the glucose found in the fluid between the cell.
For our use-case we picked Abbott Freestyle Libre CGM device to implement the transform application. It uses a small sensor paired with a reader, which saves the patient from the pain of finger pricks.
BGM vs CGM
BGM(blood glucose monitoring) only gives you a snapshot of your blood glucose, at a single point of time. Continuous Glucose Monitoring provides a more complete picture of trends and patterns without the need to finger prick.
Finger prick blood glucose readings and sensor glucose reading won't always match and in fact are likely to be different. That's because sensor glucose readings come from the interstitial fluid (ISF), a thin layer of fluid that surrounds the cells of the tissues below your skin, not from your blood. There is a 5 to 10 minute delay in ISF glucose response to changes in blood glucose. Glucose readings on ISF have been proven to reliably reflect glucose levels.
CGM SCAN USING NFC
After finalising the device and approach we wanted to use the NFC technology to activate and scan the sensor attached to patient’s arm. We were able to connect the sensor with the mobile app. In NFC technology the mobile app sends a command to the sensor and in return the sensor provide the necessary information.
The lifespan of the sensor is 14 days after it has been activated. So initially the mobile app was used to activate the sensor and then was used to scan the glucose level of the patient.
We researched the various commands which are used by the sensor and are sent by the mobile application. In return to the scan command from the app the sensor gives us the unprocessed data in form of bytes. We applied various algorithms to retrieve the necessary information from this unprocessed data.
This information consists of data related to blood glucose from last 8 hours and other vitals as well. Also it consists of data related to the sensor’s life and its battery level. All this data was stored on the cloud where all of the data processing was done onto it.
This data was analysed to generate relevant graphs and metrics which can be used by the doctors.
After every scan the patient can evaluate his current sugar level and can see a graph which indicates his sugar levels during the complete day.
Meal ANd weight Logs
In the mobile application the patient also has to log his meals during the day. This data was used by doctor to evaluate the current activity of the patient and to give a correct feedback for the improvement in meal.
The patient also has to log his weight which was also used by the doctor to get the best results. The doctor gives feedback on all these data points and help the patient to improve his lifestyle.
INSIGHTS
The mobile application provides various insights which can be used by the doctors to give correct feedback and improve the health of the patient. Not just doctor even patient can regularly track his improvements and can improve his lifestyle accordingly.
Conclusion
A CGM is an enabler that helps you understand how your food and lifestyle affect you. Therefore, it allows you to address your health in a specific manner.
We all know the importance of a good diet and a healthy lifestyle; what we lack is we do not know how much we get affected by seemingly innocent food intakes.