CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va., April 26, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- InSpark Technologies, Inc., a leader in diabetes pattern recognition technology, today announced that VigilantTM1 is now available for download to compatible smartphones in the United States, and will be free for a limited time and limited number of users. Vigilant is a companion to episodic diabetes monitoring that analyzes patient blood glucose data and provides feedback about daily patterns of highs, lows, glucose variability (frequent swings) and test frequency, as well as patterns indicative of increased risk of severe hypoglycemia in the next 24 hours. Hypoglycemia results in 280,000 emergency room visits a year in the United States, and is one of the greatest fears for people using Insulin.
A photo accompanying this announcement is available at http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/ced80c68-43e9-467e-90c5-314166da65cb
Vigilant is the culmination of well over 10 years of work by leading scientists and engineers at the University of Virginia and InSpark Technologies to develop pattern recognition tools that can help with daily diabetes management decisions. There are over 20 peer-reviewed medical journal articles that support the scientific basis of InSpark’s pattern recognition algorithms, their evaluation in large and diverse diabetes population datasets, or report on clinical studies where algorithmic feedback is given to users.
“We couldn’t be more excited about bringing Vigilant to the diabetes community,” said Erik Otto, President and Co-Founder of InSpark, who also has Type 1 diabetes. “Now you don’t have to be encumbered by looking at detailed data logs and charts. Vigilant can analyze your data to give important insights about upcoming periods of risk when you test, because we know that is when you are making diabetes management decisions.”
There are several ways you can use Vigilant:
- For people with diabetes: Vigilant is intended for people with diabetes aged 13 and older who take multiple injections of insulin each day or who use insulin pumps. It is available in the Apple App Store2 and Google Play3 store for download to compatible smartphones.
- For clinicians and caregivers: A dedicated web-based caregiver version (“Vigilant Caregiver”) is available for those who assist in the care of people with diabetes. This way clinicians, spouses or parents can also know about their patient or loved one’s patterns and risks, at a glance.
- Meter compatibility: For people with compatible phones, Vigilant can also be connected with the Accu-Chek® Aviva Connect4 blood glucose meter so that data can be wirelessly sent to Vigilant when the user is testing. More information on meter compatibility can be found here.
- For more information or to subscribe go to vigilant.insparktech.com
“We are confident that Vigilant will make a difference in the lives of people with diabetes and their families,” said Laurel Fuqua, Sr. VP of Clinical Affairs for InSpark Technologies. “Vigilant has an advantage over many of the technologies today because it provides powerful insight while not imposing additional burdens on the user’s diabetes routine. It is also complementary to other diabetes management software and monitoring tools such as Continuous Glucose Monitoring (“CGM”). For example, one way to mitigate a period of risk identified by Vigilant could be to put on a CGM device.”
Today InSpark also announced the formation of its Thought Leadership Council to help guide the launch of Vigilant and future innovation, with six key appointments of leading diabetes experts: Timothy Bailey, MD; David Marrero, PhD; Anne Peters, MD; Gary Scheiner, MS; Robert Tanenberg, MD and Hope Warshaw, MS, RD. More information about InSpark’s Thought Leadership Council can be found here.
For more information, you can also read InSpark Founder Erik Otto’s Letter to the Diabetes Community, or view InSpark’s quirky video about how Vigilant can cut through diabetes data smog, alerting you in advance of periods of risk.
About Diabetes and Hypoglycemia
More than 29 million people have diabetes in the United States. Diabetes management can be a difficult balancing act, particularly for those on insulin therapy who are continually challenged to maintain near normal blood glucose levels without frequent hypoglycemia. While some patients can experience warning signs before a hypoglycemic event (such as feeling shaky, sweating, tingling in the lips), others may not experience any warning signs. The onset of hypoglycemia can happen suddenly (in minutes) and if not corrected, severe hypoglycemia can result, which may require medical intervention.
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 people with diabetes and their 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 Drs. 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.
1 VigilantTM is a trademark of InSpark Technologies, Inc.
2 Apple and App Store are trademarks of Apple Inc.
3 Google and Google Play are trademarks of Alphabet, Inc.
4 Accu-Chek ® Aviva Connect is a trademark of Roche Inc.
The photo is also available via AP PhotoExpress.