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Birds of a Feather Check BGs Together
What do you get when you cross a pelican with an albatross?
When applied to blood glucose testing, the answer is: big benefits. Just change “pelican” to Pelikan Technologies in Palo Alto, California, and “albatross” to Albatros Technologies.
Pelikan Technologies has developed the electronically controlled Pelikan Sun lancing system, already approved by the FDA. When it becomes available in a few months, it will be the first lancing system to allow us to perform the entire lancing process at the touch of a button.
A Match Made in Heaven
In December 2004, Pelikan Technologies bought the German company Inventus. The acquisition provides Pelikan with the Inventus GlucoSens blood glucose meter. Pelikan immediately changed the Inventus name to Albatros Technologies.
The German spellings of “Pelikan” and “Albatros” are no coincidence; Pelikan’s president and CEO, Dirk Boecker, MD, PhD, hails from that country.
“We now own all technologies and components necessary for the development of our advanced fully integrated glucose-monitoring device,” says Boecker. “The sensor fits nicely into the format of the Pelikan Sun. Yet it will be about the size of Apple’s iPod mini and weigh about 5 ounces.”
The fully integrated one-step device will have 50 lancets and 50 sensors in one disk. There will be no strips.
“This is a device for everybody, but children and the elderly in particular have special needs,” says Boecker. “Children are the people with the most sensitive skin, and they have to test for their entire life. This device will let them be more compliant.”
Waiting to Fly
Pelikan and Albatros don’t expect the device to be on the market until 2007. The company hasn’t named it yet, but my guess is that it will be the German name for a beautiful bird.
Disks, Discs and Drums
Pelikan will offer the first lancing disk and, eventually, the first lancing and sensing disk.
Currently, two Bayer meters—the Ascensia Dex 2 and Ascensia Breeze—use a 10-test-strip disc, which does away with handling individual test strips.
Roche’s Accu-Chek Compact also automates the strip-handling process. It enables test strips to be dispensed from a drum of 17 strips with a press of a button.
The ReliOn NewTek contains 100 preloaded test strips. Hypoguard markets this meter exclusively through Wal-Mart and Sam’s Club.
MediSense’s Precision Sof-Tact was the first glucose monitor to offer lancing, blood collection and glucose testing with a single press of a button. Yet you still have to load each lancet and test strip.
Categories: Blood Glucose, Meters
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Mar 1, 2005
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Diabetes Health
Diabetes Health is the essential resource for people living with diabetes- both newly diagnosed and experienced as well as the professionals who care for them. We provide balanced expert news and information on living healthfully with diabetes. Each issue includes cutting-edge editorial coverage of new products, research, treatment options, and meaningful lifestyle issues.
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Topics
- Diabetic / Diabetes Health
- Type 1 / 1.5 Diabetes
- Type 2 Diabetes
- Blood Glucose / Sugar
- High/Low Blood Sugar / Fast Acting Glucose
- Insulin- Pumps, Pens & Syringes
- Continuous Glucose Monitors, CGM, Infusion Sets
- Type 2 Medications
- Hyperglycemia
- Hypoglycemia
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