Medtronic (NYSE:MDT), in partnership with IBM Watson Health, this week announced commercial availability of its AI-powered Sugar.IQ diabetes management app.
Using artificial intelligence, the Sugar.IQ app evaluates how a user’s blood sugar levels respond to variables such as food intake, insulin dosing and other daily routines.
At this year’s meeting of the American Diabetes Association, Medtronic reported that people who used the Sugar.IQ system spent 36 minutes more per day in a healthy glucose range than they did before using the app – including 30 minutes less in hyperglycemia and 6 minutes less in hypoglycemia.
The app is available with Medtronic’s Guardian Connect continuous glucose monitoring system, which is designed to give users predictive alerts up to 60 minutes before they experience hyper- or hypoglycemia.
“Sugar.IQ has given me insights that I could never have uncovered on my own – even with 30 years of diabetes experience. It’s been eye opening and fun to gain new insights into my diabetes without additional burden,” said Michelle Shaw, a Medtronic employee and registered nurse.
“Data-driven technologies like AI, machine learning and analytics are changing the way people manage their health today, and the launch of the Sugar.IQ app with Watson is an indication of where the future of disease management is headed,” Dr. Kyu Rhee, VP & chief health officer at IBM Watson Health, said in prepared remarks.”Through IBM Watson Health’s partnership with Medtronic, we’re bringing the power of AI to the everyday lives of people with diabetes, with the goal of lessening the burden of disease.”
