Scientists at Pennington Biomedical Research Center are exploring how technology can transform diabetes care, helping patients better manage their condition and prevent progression.
This year, Yun Shen, a Pennington Biomedical Research Center assistant professor, and two other experts gathered global research results related to the role of technology in diabetes prevention and management. After receiving 50 submissions and selecting 10 to publish, the scientists shared their findings in an editorial article published in Frontiers, a leading research publisher.
“We want to give our readers and audience an overall impression of these technologies that are being used in studies,” Shen says. “Hopefully, they can be used in our real clinical practice. We want to encourage more companies and experts to join the research. They can contribute a lot more on this topic.”
One of the promising technologies for diabetes management is continuous glucose monitoring. Shen says there is new technology that can track more than 200 measurements of glucose levels with a sensor that goes on the patient’s upper arm. The sensor is connected to the patient’s phone via Bluetooth, allowing glucose levels to be tracked in real time. This helps patients to know if certain foods, activities or lifestyle choices spike their glucose, giving them the knowledge to make conscious changes.
“If our research results can be spread out to be used by primary care physicians, they can use the technology to manage their patients, increase their efficacies and increase their confidence with diabetes management in these patients,” Shen says. “This technology is not only for the patients but also for the primary care physicians and family doctors.”
Shen says he has three pending diabetes and continuous glucose monitoring projects. He has submitted several proposals requesting funding for more research projects in technology and diabetes management. He is also seeking local health care professionals to collaborate with to identify the needs of patients with diabetes, the challenges patients face in managing their conditions and how they can help improve patient outcomes.
