Dubai health company’s high-tech plan to transform diabetes care
▶ GluCare promises to revolutionise management of condition that affects a fifth of UAE’s population
Diabetes patients in the UAE can have a better understanding of their condition thanks to a wristband created by a technology start-up company from Dubai.
The GluCare Integrated Diabetes Centre promises to use patient data like never before to help to reduce risk and prolong the lives of those with the chronic condition.
The McKinsey Global Institute, an international think tank, highlighted the importance of technology and innovation in improving health care in a recent report.
“Doctors now need to be highly trained technicians to look at data and technology as a means of understanding a patient’s needs,” said Ali Hashemi, who is the chairman of GluCare.
“In this context, we are using technology to gather information. If a patient regularly visits a doctor, they will be looking for any changes since their previous visit.
“This system allows us to constantly monitor patient health and look at any changes that occur.
“Having that information in advance allows a doctor to dedicate the appointment to coaching, educating and advising the patient as to how they can improve their health.”
Digital therapeutics is a developing area of health care.
It uses computer programmes and machine learning to manage, treat or prevent disease or illness.
GluCare’s system involves a wristband that collects data including heart rate, respiratory rate, sleep patterns and skin temperature.
Other equipment involved in the GluCare kit for patients will monitor blood glucose and blood pressure.
More conventional means of gathering data, such as questionnaires on diet and general health, are also used.
That information is fed into a connected mobile app that can be viewed by the wearer and physician to monitor health in real time.
Coaches can offer feedback with messages relating to the changes seen on a dashboard where health information is displayed.
Algorithms look at the data to discern trends or point out symptoms that could indicate early signs of ill health such as hypertension or heart arrhythmias, as well as symptoms related to diabetes.
The developers say that the GluCare band is up to 100 times more accurate than comparable devices on the market.
Data is collected by using
light of different wavelengths sent from the wristband to the body.
Dr Ihsan Almarzooqi, founder and managing director of the centre, said the technology promises to revolutionise diabetes care.
“The current mechanism of managing a diabetic with doctors having a quick chat every quarter and then sending the patient away with medication is not working,” he said.
“The prevalence [of diabetes] has gone up; the costs have gone up and people are getting diabetes at a younger age.
“Movement data, heart and respiration rate and a lot of other information can improve care, but it is not something that is always asked during a doctor’s consultation.”
GluCare partnered with several health insurance providers
to offer the service nationwide.
Challenges will include how to manage a huge amount of data as more patients sign up to the programme and to assist coaches in providing real-time feedback to patients on their progress.
In a cohort of 100,000 patients, for example, a petabyte – a million gigabytes – of biological data could be extracted, GluCare said.
About 20 per cent of the UAE population lives with diabetes, while about 40 per cent of UAE deaths from Covid-19 involved those with the condition, making diabetes a serious risk factor.
Research into the effectiveness of similar home- monitoring devices, health data tracking and virtual medical appointments is under way at Dubai Health Authority.
A study of patients at the Dubai Diabetes Centre to see how similar technologies could be absorbed into the health system is examining how change can save lives.
Under the current method of treatment, diabetics have home monitoring devices to check their blood sugar and blood pressure.
Data is stored in devices that can be viewed by an endocrinologist during medical appointments every two to three months.
During the DHA study, 40 patients were provided four home monitoring devices to check blood pressure, blood glucose, heart rate and a pulse oximeter to measure blood oxygen.
A pill box bleeped to remind patients when to take their diabetes medication.
Failure to take prescribed drugs at the correct time resulted in an alert sent to the centre.
The patient’s mobile phone then gathered all relevant biodata for the duration of the study to improve clinical man
agement of their condition.
A video call feature is also being tested during the study.
“This kind of real-time monitoring helps the patient stay on-track,” said Dr Hamed Farooqi, director of the Dubai Diabetes Centre.
“It ensures there is no time gap in terms of physical consultation, which means complications can be greatly reduced – which is important, given the nature of the disease.”
Having information in advance allows a doctor to dedicate the appointment to coaching, educating and advising ALI HASHEMI
GluCare chairman