Blood Glucose Meter Effective Meal Average Display
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current blood glucose meters do not provide patients with convenient and immediate access to glucose level averages over short periods and the constituent values used to generate these averages, making it difficult for patients to make timely adjustments to their insulin dosages.
Innovation Solution
A method and apparatus for a blood glucose meter that calculates and displays an effective meal average (EMA) along with its constituent values and variability indicator, allowing patients to view the average and constituent values on a display screen or via audible signals, enabling informed decisions about insulin adjustments.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of time
If existing blood glucose meters provide statistical data over long periods (7-day, 14-day, 30-day averages), then patients can track trends over time, but the averaging period is too long for timely insulin dosage adjustments
Solution Approach 1:
The system dynamically adjusts the averaging period based on patient needs, providing both short-term averages (e.g., 3-day, mealtime-specific) and long-term averages. This allows patients to access timely data for immediate insulin adjustments while maintaining the ability to track longer-term trends, resolving the contradiction between response time and trend analysis reliability.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent segments the glucose data by time period and meal type, providing separate averages for different meals (breakfast, lunch, dinner) and different time windows. This segmentation allows patients to make targeted insulin dosage decisions for specific meals without being overwhelmed by long-term averages, addressing the need for timely adjustments while preserving trend information.
2Ease of operation
If blood glucose meters display only average values, then the display is simple and clear, but patients lack information about variability among constituent values which is important for insulin dosage adjustment
Solution Approach 1:
The system adds a new dimension to the display by showing both the average value and the variability metric (such as standard deviation or range) simultaneously. This dimensional enhancement provides patients with comprehensive information about glucose patterns without overwhelming them, maintaining simplicity while preventing information loss about variability.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces variability metrics as an intermediary that bridges the gap between simple average display and detailed constituent value analysis. This intermediary provides patients with synthesized information about glucose variability that is easy to interpret while containing the essential information needed for safe insulin dosage decisions.
3Quantity of substance
If diabetes management software provides mealtime averages in a logbook table, then comprehensive data is stored, but patients cannot easily access constituent values to understand which readings comprise the average
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges the display of average values with direct access to constituent values within the meter itself. Instead of separating the average calculation from the individual readings, the system combines them in a unified interface that allows patients to view both the synthesized average and the individual readings that comprise it, eliminating the need to navigate between separate screens or documents.
Solution Approach 2:
The meter provides self-service functionality by automatically calculating and displaying both the average values and their constituent readings without requiring external software or manual tracking. Patients can directly access comprehensive data including constituent values through the meter's own interface, making the system self-sufficient and improving accessibility.
Data Source
AI summary
A method of presenting glucose data to a person with diabetes from a blood glucose meter is provided in which an effective meal average (EMA) value is presented, followed by two or more of the individual values that make up the EMA, to provide improved feedback data for clinical decisions by patients who need to alter their dose of insulin. The EMA can also comprise a measure of the variability of its constituent values. The EMA encompasses those values that occur at specified times such as 1 hour before and 1 hour after a specified meal time. The EMA is calculated over a limited number of days previous to the calculation (e.g., 3 days) and has a minimum number of values that must be obtained within the time and date ranges. An algorithm allows for exclusion of any given reading from the average (e.g., post-prandial or control solution readings). Patients can use 1 to 8 EMA on any given date range (e.g., preferably 4, that is, breakfast, lunch, supper and bedtime snack).