Sweet! Diabetics can now test their blood sugar levels on their iPhone

The other morning I almost spilled my coffee all over the floor. Let me explain why.

I am a diabetic and for almost 20 years I’ve been shlepping an extra little baggy around with me everywhere I go: school, work, gym, water parks, etc. As if women don’t have enough stuff to carry in their purse already, we diabetics also have to bring our blood glucose machine, our finger pricking pen, a bottle of test strips and a bag of skittles everywhere we go so help us God.

For the last 4 of those 20 years, everyone has keenly observed when I whip out my equipment to test in public that “Wouldn’t it be great if you could test your sugar on your iPhone??”. Geez that has never crossed my mind. Oh wait, it has.

Now that dream is a reality. There was a segment on CTV Canada AM last week demoing the iBGStar Blood Glucose Monitor which is dubbed as the “first available blood glucose meter that seamlessly connects to the Apple iPhone and iPod touch for the flexibility to manage your diabetes whenever, wherever.” Yay.

While I have not tried it myself (yet), it looks very promising and is a step in the right direction for mobile device convergence in the medical industry.

It’s a teeny tiny little meter that connects perfectly with the iPhone and prompts you to download the iBGStar Diabetes Manager App.  The design is very stylish and you can always keep it attached to your phone lightening your load by one device. The app allows you to track and manage your diabetes data and to share it instantly with your healthcare professional.

I think we’re a little too early for the “Tweet my blood sugar level!” option – but perhaps social sharing (with the diabetes community) and gamification of blood glucose management is next. I mean, I play games with myself already.

For example, before eating an ice cream I have to “guess” how many insulin units I will need. Say I take 4 units – wouldn’t it be interesting if I was “rewarded” if my guess was accurate  (as in my sugar doesn’t get too high or too low after the insulin and ice cream)?

Yep, yep…I see the possibilities and look forward to seeing health-related technologies incorporate more tech trends such as mobile, social, gamification and big data.

The iPhone-compatible blood glucose management device and app is a great start!