It's getting easier to manage diabetes for the approximately 2.6 million people1 in the U.S. who need multiple daily insulin injections as Abbott's much-anticipated partnership with medical device startup Bigfoot Biomedical comes to life.
Bigfoot has received clearance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for the Bigfoot Unity Diabetes Management system. This first-of-its-kind system2 features smart pen caps for disposable insulin pens — injection devices, about the size of a marker, that people with diabetes use to inject insulin — which integrate with Abbott's world-leading3 FreeStyle Libre 2 technology.
Here's how it works: The Bigfoot Unity smart pen cap for rapid-acting insulin uses glucose data captured every minute by the FreeStyle Libre 2 sensor, worn on the back of the upper arm, to provide on-demand insulin dosing recommendations for people ages 12 and older with diabetes who need multiple insulin injections a day. The dosing recommendations appear on the pen cap's digital screen and are based on instructions from the user's health care provider.
These recommendations help provide a real-time answer to the question: "How much insulin should I take right now?"
And it's an example of how the Abbott-Bigfoot partnership is leading the way for connected technology, the future of diabetes care, and making management of diabetes easier for people who need to inject insulin multiple times a day.
"People with diabetes can be overwhelmed with the amount of data they get from multiple devices, so it's important to develop connected technologies that simplify the experience," said Jared Watkin, senior vice president of Abbott's Diabetes Care business.
"Through Abbott's collaboration with Bigfoot Biomedical, we're providing automated information that personalizes diabetes management."
