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Continuous Glucose Monitoring (CGM): Say "NO" to Painful Needle Pricks

Creator: Dr Prachi Agrawal
Keywords: Diabetes, Continuous glucose monitoring, Diabetes type I and II, Health technology, Monitoring devices

by Dr Prachi Agrawalon July 4, 2023 at 3:48 PM

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Highlights:

Continuous Glucose Monitoring (CGM) is the technology that helps to track blood sugar levels in the body in real time using implantable bio-sensors
CGM devices can monitor blood glucose trends, activate alarms as well as help the patients to monitor the treatment they are undergoing
This technology offers an insight as well as a solution to better diabetic care in a country like India where lifestyle diseases like diabetes are on an all-time high

Among the various metabolic diseases that affect humans, diabetes has been a disease of concern as well as a major health burden in various parts of the world. In the past decade, India has seen an unprecedented rise in the prevalence of diabetes and pre-diabetic cases.

Over time healthcare professionals and biotechnologists have come up with several solutions to offer better and non-invasive options for blood glucose monitoring. Continuous blood glucose monitoring (CGM) devices are one of the recent advances that offer practical and real time solutions to several problems that Diabetic patients face.

CGM devices: The Need of the Hour

Diabetic patients can be insulin dependent (Type 1) or non- insulin dependent (Type 2) based on the capacity of their body to produce insulin, which is the sugar lowering hormone in the body. Several patients of both type 1 as well as type 2 Diabetes may need to administer insulin frequently to keep their blood glucose levels in the normal range, and this warrants checking blood sugar multiple times a day.

‘Continuous blood glucose monitoring (CGM) is a smart wearable technology that helps monitor your 24 hour blood sugar in real time using your phone or other smart devices. #Diabetes #CGM’

This is the problem statement that leads to either high or low administration of insulin by the patient and even non- compliance to treatment altogether. Hence, diabetic patients are prone to either very high (hyperglycemia) or very low blood glucose levels (hypoglycemia) both of which are fatal for the patient. CGM devices tackle this problem in an innovative and non-invasive way.

CGM device is a wearable device that can be implanted under the skin and fixed with adhesive to the patient's arm. It has a sensor that senses and calibrates the glucose levels by measuring the sugar levels in the fluid in between the cells (interstitial glucose). This data can be transmitted to a hand held device like a smartphone and recorded in an application as well. CGM devices keep a 24 hour record and help track blood glucose trends as well (1^✔).

Who Benefits From CGM the Most?

Patients with recurrent or severe hypoglycemia or impaired awareness of it
A condition or disability where the patient cannot monitor his or her blood glucose by capillary blood glucose monitoring but could use a CGM device
Patients who require to check their blood glucose at least eight times daily
Patients who need help from a health care worker or healthcare professional to monitor their blood sugar levels (2^✔)

Advantages and Disadvantages of Using a CGM device

Advantages

It is a non-invasive, one-time technology that helps monitor blood glucose in patients who require frequent blood glucose monitoring
It can help set alarm limits for intervention, record data for long-term trend analysis, as well as help monitor the treatment that the patient is taking. The data can be sent to healthcare professionals over computer networks as well
It measures the blood sugar fluctuations in real time that take place because of insulin administration, diet, stress as well as physical activity
It can help to make several lifestyle modifications that serve as adjuvant therapy for diabetic patients
It's a boon for children with type 1 diabetes, who get to monitor their blood glucose levels without the pain of needle pricks

Disadvantages

It is an expensive device, and in a developing country like India, the accessibility and availability of CGM devices are still in their early stages
The biosensors and transmitters need to be changed every 7 to 14 days, making it a device requiring timely maintenance and calibration
It requires a medical certification and prescription, along with a clear understanding of the device and its limitations
It is more expensive than conventional glucometers and requires blood glucose to be checked at least twice using the glucometer for standardization and calibration

Future of Health Care Technology in Diabetes: Where are we Headed?

A CGM is one of the "artificial pancreas" systems that are being developed to treat people with diabetes. In 2016, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved a type of artificial pancreas system called a hybrid closed-loop system (3^✔),

This system senses your blood sugar levels throughout the day and night through a CGM and automatically injects the right amount of insulin required by the body (4^✔).

CGM is just one of the many devices in Diabetes technology that are waiting to unveil their potential in helping mankind. With further advancements and refinements, CGM-based technology is likely to be a household medical device in the future.

References:

Continuous Glucose Monitoring - (https:my.clevelandclinic.org/health/drugs/11444-glucose-continuous-glucose-monitoring)
Type 2 diabetes in adults: management - (https:www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ng28/chapter/Recommendations#blood-glucose-management)
The Artificial Pancreas Device System - (https:www.fda.gov/medical-devices/consumer-products/artificial-pancreas-device-system)
What is continuous glucose monitoring? - (https:www.niddk.nih.gov/health-information/diabetes/overview/managing-diabetes/continuous-glucose-monitoring)

Source: Medindia

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