Sanofi U.S. announcement: iBGStar Glucose Monitor received FDA clearance

Press release snippet:

December 7, 2011 - Sanofi U.S., together with its partner AgaMatrix, announced today that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted 510(k) premarket clearance for the iBGStar™ Blood Glucose Monitoring System, the first and only FDA cleared blood glucose meter that directly connects to the Apple® iPhone® and iPod touch®, seamlessly integrating accurate blood glucose monitoring into the lifestyles of people with diabetes. The iBGStar™ is already available in Germany, France, Switzerland, the Netherlands and Italy.

The compact iBGStar™ glucose meter, when plugged directly into the iPhone® or iPod® touch, quickly displays results immediately after testing on the full-color touch screen via the iBGStar™ Diabetes Manager App. iBGStar™ also can be used alone to measure blood glucose levels and results can be synchronized to an iPhone® or iPod® touch at a later time.

The iBGStar™ Diabetes Manager App has a range of features that allow users multiple ways to analyze their glucose patterns over time. Patients can record and track readings, carbohydrate intake and insulin doses if taking insulin. Scorecards show individual test results and are color coded so that high and low blood glucose results can be more easily identified. The ‘Share’ function enables users to select specific data to send as an e-mail to their healthcare professional. The application can be downloaded for free from the App Store.

The entire press release from Sanofi can be found att his link.

I've never used this device but I think that it's FDA approval is a fantastic sign for things to come. We are an iPhone family and Arden's meter is contained in her OmniPod PDM. We do however carry another meter with us and I must say that my interest is peaked. I hope that the iBGStar's FDA clearance marks the beginning of us being able to more easily keep track of BG data on the devices that many of us carry everyday. Currently, tracking and managing BG data is far too difficult. Perhaps other manufactures will take note and find a user friendly way of incorporating their products with today's technology. I think that it's imperitive that we all keep up with the changing state of diabetes care!

Do you think that having iPhone integration and the ability to easily track and share your BG history will tempt you to switch from the meter that you currently use to manage your type I diabetes?

You can learn more about the iBGStar at - http://www.ibgstar.us/