Earlier this year, Medgadget spoke with Timon LeDain from Macadamian, a software design and development firm, about My Diabetes Coach, a suite of technologies for pediatric diabetes management being developed in partnership with the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario – Ottawa Children’s Treatment Centre (CHEO – OCTC). My Diabetes Coach was recognized last week as the Runner Up of Novo Nordisk‘s 2017 HITLAB World Cup of Voice-Activated Technology in Diabetes. On the recognition, LeDain commented that, “Receiving this award is validation to the enormous potential this solution has to make an impact on youth suffering from type 2 diabetes.” During discussion at the event, My Diabetes Coach received attention for its ability to facilitate secure, peer-to-peer mentorship. Since Medgadget spoke with LeDain, a patent has been filed by Macadamian that covers the artificial intelligence-assisted components of the platform.
Addressing a market of an estimated 208,000 patients younger than 20 years living with diagnosed diabetes, My Diabetes Coach is a combination voice-enabled and connected health solution built on Macadamian’s Hive software platform. An Alexa skill engages the user to provide accurate, empathetic, personalized feedback and suggestions. A patient portal integrated with a Bluetooth glucometer and other wearables allow for important data capture to drive patient-specific support as well as gamification. Though a number of adult diabetes management solutions exist today, Macadamian’s strategy with My Diabetes Coach is to leverage an apparent gap in solutions designed for younger patients.
An annual competition, the HITLAB World Cup chose this year to narrow its scope and focus on voice-enabled solutions addressing the needs of Type 2 diabetic patients. After reviewing an applicant pool of 146 submissions from 15 countries, five finalists were selected to present to industry leaders from Google, Novo Nordisk, and HITLAB as part of the HITLAB Innovators Summit. Solution impact, innovation, sustainability, and feasibility were all considered in the judging criteria. All finalists received cash prizes ranging from $2,000 to $50,000. This year, My Diabetes Coach was recognized as a finalist alongside:
- (Competition Winner) Lighthouse, powered by the American Diabetes Association: An application to turn physician instructions into action and progress.
- Palette: A smart placemat that accurately tracks a patient’s meal nutrition and shares this information with a physician to help accurately diagnose and analyze the patient’s health.
- Proof: A blockchain-powered system to automatically track diabetic patients and issue bitcoin for successful adherence.
- T2D2: In-the-moment personalized nutrition assistance and social support for diabetes self management.
Link: HITLAB World Cup…
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