Diabetes Technologies Center
Everyone applying to Diabetes Technologies Center, the very first diabetes center in Turkey, has an opportunity to benefit from brand-new and cutting-edge technologies at our hospital in regard of diabetes.
Diabetes Mellitus is the primary disease among the most common diseases in the world and requires a life-long treatment. Being diagnosed with Diabetes Mellitus increased by around 100% once in every 10 years.
Treatment of diabetes will save our lives with the solutions combining science and technology.
Having type 1 diabetes is beyond our power; however, managing, resisting against its damage and maintaining a healthy and successful life is in our power.
What Is Diabetes?
Diabetes develops as a result of deficiency or absence of insulin hormone, which presents itself with high or low blood glucose level. Due to damages causing on patients with diabetes secondary to unstable blood glucose level, it leads to organ failure or functional collapse. As it is a chronic (permanent) disease, diabetes also has vital effect on patients in regard of duration and quality of life.
What Are Diabetes Technologies?
Because of duration of the disease and continuation of what requires to be done, patients with diabetes cannot be followed-up from time to time. The Diabetes Technologies have come into our lives as small electronic devices keeping record, sending insulin and “functioning like a pancreas” for us.
Which Products Do Diabetes Technologies Involve?
- Insulin Infusion Pumps
- Wireless Insulin Infusion Pumps (Patch Pump)
- Open-System Continuous Glucose Monitoring Systems (CGMS)
- Closed-System Continuous Glucose Monitoring Systems (CGMS)
- 90 to 180-Day Subcutaneous Continuous Glucose Monitoring Systems (CGMS)
- Injection Ports
- Diabetes Tracking Applications
- Ultra-Rapid-Acting Insulins
- Ultra‐Long-Acting Insulins
- Bionic Pancreas and Subpatterns
- Hypoglycemia Patches
What Are Current Diabetes Technologies in Turkey?
- Systems Compatible with Wired Insulin Pump and Continuous Glucose Monitoring (CGM)
- Wireless (Patch) Insulin Pump
- Diabetes Applications
- Data Transfer Systems Importing Data From Glucometer and Transferring to Physician or Healthcare Team
Next-Generation Diabetes Technologies
Very important technologies that will ease the struggle against diabetes have developed in order to take the blood glucose level under control in patient with diabetes. Brand-new glucose measurement methods, insulin infusion systems and closed circuit applications have also been designed to increase the efficiency of treatment and physicians in addition to providing ease of use with the patients.
Continuous Glucose Monitoring Systems
What Does Continuous Glucose Monitoring Systems Mean?
With a conventional glucometer, patients prick one of their fingertips to obtain a small amount of blood and measure their glucose level with a strip, onto which a drop of blood is placed. Patients with diabetes have difficulty in getting used to this device particularly at the initial phase of the disease as well as carrying the glucometer, strips and the needle box all the time with them. On the other hand, CGM Systems consist of sensors (receivers) attached to skin in the form a small button in connection with a small silicone cannula and measures blood glucose level once in every 5 minutes. The sensor transfers the data to a special device or cell phone. Afterwards, the collected data are evaluated and blood glucose levels are determined in the long term. Even in some systems, patients with diabetes can detect blood glucose level at any time of day without pricking a finger and send the data to a physician or a family member via a cell phone or a device.
CGM Systems also have a special warning function. If the blood glucose level increases or decreases at a certain level, this system gives an alarm to the patient itself or a relative. Blood glucose changes are presented in charts and also stored.
Microinsulin Pumps
What Are Microinsulin Pumps?
Type 1 is a kind of diabetes generally seen in the children and young individuals who have to get insulin injection 4-5 times a day as the pancreas does not secrete insulin in these patients. They generally complain about inability to find an appropriate place to get the injection or to pay necessary attention to this issue in the middle of a dynamic and busy work life. The most important innovation that the technology has introduced in this regard is the invention of pumps capable of administering insulin 24 hours continuously to subcutaneous tissue through a patch in the size of a button cap attached to the skin. These pumps can deliver insulin into the body without injection in order to take the blood glucose level increasing following meals under control. As a result, the disease becomes manageable by performing the injection once in 3 days instead of doing it 4-5 times a day.
Hypoglycemia Patches
What Are Hypoglycemia Patches?
The hypoglycemia, also known as suddenly decreased blood glucose, is one of the mostly worried issues among patient with diabetes. Hypoglycemia may cause various severe health problems that may trigger cold sweating, palpitation, syncopal feeling and mental fog. So, it is very important to diagnose the hypoglycemia at initial stage.
There are hypoglycemia watches, also called “hypopatch”, which warn the patients about hypoglucema by means of sensors attached to the skin without occurrence of a clinical sign related to hypoglycemia. These systems can be paired with smart phones via bluetooth system, can send alarm signals to patients’ relatives and allow the patients get help in case of emergency.
How Does Technology Contribute to Our Lives?
Providing more accurate diagnosis and detailed tracking opportunities, the new developments in science and technology increases the compatibility with treatments. Thanks to close monitoring systems, appropriate and real-time changes can be evaluated and futures of patients with diabetes can be preserved.
The most important advantages of this system are as the following:
These technologies discovered with joint studies of medicine and engineering serve the patients with diabetes not to repeat tests and injections all day long for taking the blood glucose level under control.
In addition to providing more accurate diagnosis and effective treatment options, new developments in technology also allow better communication between physicians and patients.
The patients using insulin pump and continuous glucose monitoring systems can easily adapt these systems and benefit from close monitoring opportunities.
The most notable advantages of these systems are as the following:
- Better Patient Training
- Blood Glucose Control
- Decrease in Continuous Occurrence of Initial, Urgent and Late Issues Caused by Diabetes
Do not give up and learn how to manage your diabetes with the support of technology!
Since the discovery of insulin, which won the Nobel Prize in 1923, no new advancement that can profoundly change Diabetology has been found yet.
But, particularly in the last 10 years, very important technological inventions have been developed, which will ease the monitoring process.
The inventions, in fact, have been designed to improve the management of diabetes, increase the efficiency and prevent from damages caused by the diabetes. However, diabetes technologies gradually get more complicated, as well. Instead of measuring the blood glucose level manually with a small drop of blood, different parameters in parallel with daily blood glucose curves have emerged together with a different jargon as a result. You can visit our center at any time to benefit from the technologies suitable for your.
Artificial Pancreas Application Has Begun in The World
The concept of artificial pancreas has been the dream of patients with diabetes for a long time, and the very first versions have been recently introduced.
They have been designed as devices resembling like insulin pumps.
These devices consist of three components:
- An advanced insulin pump that can automatically deliver insulin to the body according to the data it collects,
- CGM (Continuous Glucose Monitoring Systems) interacting with this pump,
- An ultra-advanced algorithmic computer program that calculates the amount of insulin to be delivered depending on blood glucose.
With the artificial pancreas, all of these phases have been achieved and first results have been obtained after being successfully tested on humans. It will become available in our country in the near future, too.
Services at Our Diabetes Technologies Center
At our Diabetes Technologies Center where we benefit from the reflections of next-generation treatments, the following services are provided with patients by Tugce Dede, the Diabetes Training Nurse and Coordinator of Diabetes Technologies Center:
- Insulin Pump Training and Consultation,
- CGMS (Continuous Glucose Monitoring Systems) Application – Evaluation,
- Solutions for Your Problems You Experience with Insulin Pumps and Monitoring Systems,
- Evaluation of Suitability of the New Technological Products to The Patients,
- Trainings on Usage of The Preferred Products.