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Clinicians estimate that one out of every ten people in Europe will develop type-2 diabetes at some stage in their life. That is some 50 to 60 million EU citizens! A new system pioneered within the M2DM project promises to make the steps of diabetes self-diagnosis, communication and effective treatment radically simpler.
Diabetes sufferers need to constantly watch their blood sugar levels to maintain a reasonable quality of life. Failure can lead to unconsciousness and even death. Yet often one of the greatest obstacles to the effective self-management of treatments is the difficulty of supplying personal data to the supervising medical department.
The M2DM project (Multi-Access Services for telematic Management of Diabetes Mellitus) is applying the latest ICT techniques to the issue of checking blood sugar levels, communicating the results and obtaining treatment recommendations.
Flexible telemedicine and information service
An IST project, M2DM aims to provide diabetic patients and healthcare providers with a flexible voice and data communication service that increases the quality of care by improving communication between patients and caregivers. The basis of the system is a multi-access server that makes use of both Web-based and CTI (Computer Telephone Integration) technologies. The result for users is an easy-to-use, online and cost-effective access to telemedicine and information services.
The diabetic uses a simple handheld device to prick his/her thumb and obtain a tiny sample of blood. The device measures the sugar content of the sample and displays it on the inbuilt LCD screen. The diabetic connects the device to a special modem, which connects and uploads the blood sugar measurement to the central server, all at the push of a button.
At the other end of the system, the healthcare provider logs on to a special Web page that displays the latest measurement on screen, checks it against that diabetic's existing blood sugar data and recommends the appropriate adjustment in medication. He/she can then send a message to the 'Home' page of the diabetic, who reads it and adjusts the medication accordingly.
M2DM also provides a voice alternative to the data communication methods described above, in which a touchtone phone can connect to a telephone messaging system that allows the user to log in, leave voice messages for the caregiver and collect any messages in return.
Improving quality of life
The distinguishing feature of the system piloted within the M2DM project is its ability to manage the knowledge necessary for effective treatment and control of diabetes in such a way that the right information is provided to both diabetic and caregiver at the right time. This simple advance brings huge benefits to both sides of the patient/caregiver relationship.
Says Professor Mario Stefanelli, M2DM project manager, "We've had a lot of feedback from patients using the service - they can save time because they have answers back from the caregivers in a much shorter period. It takes time to develop the right treatment for each patient, so what the system means is a great reduction in the time needed to improve the patient's quality of life."
Thus the diabetic is able, within a relatively short time, to settle down to a fulfilling life knowing that he/she is obtaining the right treatment for the disease at that moment. For the caregiver, the advantage lies in the enormous amount of time saved that would otherwise be spent on booking appointments, coping with delays from patient travel, secretarial liaison, etc.
Powerful analysis tools
The M2DM project consortium comprised both technical and clinical partners, all of which participated in the design and development of the system. This broad range of expertise has shown up, for example, in the facilities supplied to the healthcare provider. When analysing the patient data, the caregiver can examine the data in table form or via easy-to-scan graphics such as pie charts.
Caregivers can analyse, for each patient, blood sample data against other samples for that same day, against samples supplied for the same time on other days, and so on. In this way a detailed picture can be drawn up about an individual patient's blood sugar over a period of time, enabling the caregiver to recommend the correct medication doses with a very high level of accuracy.
While the project is now completed, the system is being tested with patients by nine specialist medical departments across the EU.
Promoted by the IST Results Service
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