Wednesday, May 18, 2011

Check This Out!! Medtronic and Ford Team Up on Glucose Monitors

Diabetes:Medtronic and Ford Team Up on Blood Glucose Monitors
May 18, 2011 by MassDevice staff
Medtronic, Inc. will carpool with one of the world's largest automakers to bring continuous glucose monitoring to Ford automobiles, for drivers with diabetes.

Medtronic Inc. (NYSE:MDT) says it will carpool with Ford Motor Co. (NYSE:F) on a way to allow diabetic drivers to connect with their glucose monitors while they drive. 

James Dallas, a senior vice president at Medtronic, told MassDevice that the strategic collaboration is still in its early phases but that the goal of the project is to provide better connectivity of its devices through different mediums.

In the case of Ford, researchers at the car company say they have developed a prototype, which allows its Ford SYNC technology to connect to a Medtronic continuous glucose monitoring device, which will then share glucose levels and trends through audio and, "a center stack display and provide secondary alerts if levels are too low," according to a prepared release. 

"It's proactive personalized monitoring of a person with a chronic disease," Dallas told us. "At home or on the road, you're going to be in the know while you're on the go."

Dallas added that Medtronic is working with several other companies on ways to integrate its glucose monitors with technologies such as iPads, smart phones and laptop computers, as part of MDT's mission to, "extend the reach of healthcare around the world to improve outcomes and lower costs," he told us.

"The key enabler is connectivity of smarter networks," he said. "We are uniquely positioned to take data and turn it into actionable insight."

Medtronic has been quite active in its diabetes unit of late even as it seems to be scaling back some. Earlier in the month, the company extended its partnership with Bayer Healthcare (ETR:BAYN) to develop a next-generation wireless blood glucose meter, at the same time as reports surfaced that the company had laid off "hundreds" of workers in its diabetes unit. 

MDT recently reported that diabetes sales were up 8 percent to $979 million during the first nine months of its fiscal year, which ended Jan. 28. 

The Michigan automaker announced the collaboration at an event this morning, where it will also be revealing similar partnerships with mHealth provider WellDoc, and SDI Health.

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