Blood glucose meter for kids connects with Nintendo DS to help diabetes management

22 July 2009

Bayer Diabetes Care in the UK and Ireland have launched the Didget, a blood glucose meter for kids with diabetes that connects directly to Nintendo DS and Nintendo DS Lite gaming systems. The Didget meter is designed to help kids manage this lifelong condition by rewarding them for building consistent blood glucose testing habits and meeting personalised glucose target ranges.

"One of the biggest challenges facing parents of children with diabetes is the constant struggle to instil the habit of regular blood glucose testing that is critical for consistent diabetes management," says John Gregory, Professor in Paediatric Endocrinology, Wales School of Medicine, Cardiff University.

"Bayer's Didget meter can help ease the parent/child tension that testing often creates by adding an element of fun and rewards to the routine. Because it is designed with children in mind, Bayer's Didget meter can transform a child's blood glucose testing experience from something they have to do into something they want to do."

Building on 40 years of experience, the company is now transforming how kids engage in their diabetes management by tapping into their existing passion for handheld gaming. Bayer's Didget meter positively reinforces consistent testing habits by awarding points that kids can use to unlock new game levels and customise their gaming experience.

"The Didget meter is a revolutionary development in healthcare management. Up until now, blood glucose monitors have been created with adults in mind," says Sandra Peterson, Head of Bayer Medical Care. "This product was inspired by a parent of a child with diabetes, to directly address the challenges facing kids with diabetes and their parents. Bayer's Didget meter offers play with purpose to encourage kids to regularly monitor their blood glucose and begin to view regular testing as fun."

The meter, which is intended for use by kids aged 5-14, will also soon be able to connect to Bayer's Didget World, a web community where kids can spend points that they earn from consistent monitoring practices and create their own page. This is currently in development and will be available soon.

The meter grows with a child's ability to manage his/her diabetes, offering two testing levels, Basic and Advanced. Self-monitoring blood glucose is an essential tool in the optimal management of childhood and adolescent diabetes. Self-monitoring blood glucose should be prescribed at a frequency to optimise each child's diabetes control because frequency of self monitoring blood glucose correlates with glycaemic control. The Didget meter is based on Bayer's Contour system and uses the same technology and test strips, providing the same easy accuracy, No Codingtechnology, automatic correction for haematocrit and common interfering substances including maltose, 5 second test time, a small (0.6 microL) sample size and automatic detection of control solution.

Bookmark this page