BETHESDA, Md., Oct. 22, 2015 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- InSpark Technologies, Inc., a leader in diabetes pattern recognition technology, has announced it is presenting a poster at the Diabetes Technology Meeting on October 22 in Bethesda, MD, relating to a study characterizing the utility of its Hypo Risk Indicator for people with diabetes. The Hypo Risk Indicator alerts people to increased risk of severe hypoglycemia (low blood sugar) in the next 24 hours. It also includes a list of avoidance options that could help people lessen the risk of a severe low. The Hypo Risk Indicator is part of a suite of pattern recognition tools included in VigilantTM†, a smartphone-based companion to monitoring that alerts people with diabetes in advance of periods of risk and provides glanceable summaries of diabetes control.
To determine the utility of the Hypo Risk Indicator, the study evaluated the relative risk of biochemical severe hypoglycemia (BSH = Blood glucose <40mg/dL) within 24 hours of an alert. The dataset was comprised of 242,523 readings from 297 patients. At the medium alert frequency setting, the Hypo Risk Indicator was predictive of 42 percent of all BSHs and was, on average, 7.45 times more likely to be followed by BSH in the next 24 hours compared to baseline. The Hypo Risk Indicator demonstrated utility across diabetes types and glycemic control cohorts, and also showed advantages versus other potential methods of identifying hypoglycemia risk.
“Unfortunately, hypoglycemia continues to be one of the most challenging problems in diabetes. Frequent hypoglycemic episodes not only negatively impact the quality of life of individuals with diabetes, but also, when severe, can cause seizures, coma, and even death. The Hypo Risk Indicator can not only be empowering to individuals with diabetes, but can also provide caregivers with valuable insights about patients who are at risk,” said Laurel Fuqua, Sr. VP of Clinical Affairs at InSpark Technologies.
“The Hypo Risk Indicator is only one of many tools in our pattern recognition portfolio that provides people with insights into where their blood glucose may be heading,” added Erik Otto, president and co-founder of InSpark Technologies. “We believe our Vigilant solution can act as a trusted companion to people with diabetes, alerting them to periods of risk without the need for time-consuming data reviews. We look forward to bringing Vigilant to the diabetes community very soon.”
About InSpark Technologies
InSpark Technologies is developing tools that help people with diabetes transform the significant amount of blood glucose data captured on a daily basis into useful insight. InSpark’s technology alerts patients and clinicians about patterns indicative of periods of risk at the time they need it most (such as when a patient is testing, and in advance of the period of risk). InSpark’s technology is derived from a broad suite of pattern recognition intellectual property developed by Dr’s Boris Kovatchev, Daniel Cox and Marc Breton, and licensed from the University of Virginia Licensing and Ventures Group. More information can be found at www.insparktech.com. Follow us on twitter at @insparktech.
About Vigilant™
VigilantTM† is a companion to monitoring that analyzes blood glucose data and provides feedback about daily patterns of hyperglycemia, hypoglycemia, glucose variability and test frequency, as well as patterns indicative of increased risk of severe hypoglycemia in the next 24 hours. It is designed to provide concise messages prior to periods of risk so that users can take action to improve their glucose control. It will be available for individuals with diabetes and caregivers on Apple and Google Play App stores for download to smartphones. Go to www.vigilant.insparktech.com to find out more about Vigilant and to get on a mailing list for company updates. Follow us on Twitter at @insparktech.
† Vigilant™ is not currently available in the United States.