Medtronic Announces First Live Experience of Sugar.IQ with Watson for People Living with Diabetes

Medtronic plc  announced that Sugar.IQ with Watson, the first-of-its-kind cognitive app that helps detect important patterns and trends for people with diabetes, is now in live use for the first time. With app development now completed, the first users are participating in real-world testing of the final release candidate. Developed with IBM Watson Health, the Sugar.IQ app will be demonstrated at the 10th Annual Health 2.0 Fall Conference in Santa Clara, Calif.
 
The Sugar.IQ app uses real-time continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) and insulin information from Medtronic pumps and glucose sensors. It leverages IBM cognitive computing power, combined with Medtronic’s expertise in diabetes, to find hidden patterns in diabetes data and will offer real-time and personalized insights so that people with diabetes can spend less time worrying about their data and have more freedom to simply enjoy life. The app will provide individualized guidance in understanding and helping to manage elements of daily diabetes decisions by creating a single platform that brings together relevant data and provides context and insights.
 
“We have made great progress in development of the Sugar.IQ app since unveiling the first research concepts at CES 2016,” said Annette Brüls, president, Diabetes Service and Solutions at Medtronic. “Through our collaboration with IBM Watson Health, Medtronic will arm people with diabetes with a unique solution that could uncover previously unknown patterns while serving as a personal assistant that offers meaningful information when it matters to help transform diabetes care for greater freedom and better health.”
 
In the coming days, Medtronic and IBM will offer a limited launch of the application to 100 MiniMed Connect mobile accessory users, who will have the opportunity to explore the design and usability of the Sugar.IQ app, and provide valuable feedback on their experience ahead of the apps broader roll-out later this year.
 
“The Medtronic-IBM partnership has advanced rapidly and today’s debut of the final release candidate of the Medtronic Sugar.IQ app with Watson is proof positive of that progress,” said Deborah DiSanzo, general manager for IBM Watson Health. “We look forward to learning from the pilot how Watson-derived insights can potentially help people living with diabetes better manage their condition.”
 
The final release candidate of the Sugar.IQ app will also be demonstrated on Health 2.0’s Main Stage during a live on-stage panel presentation titled “Data Drives Decisions & Discovery: Intelligence for a New Era” on Sept. 27, 2016 at 10:45 a.m.
 
The Sugar.IQ app will help answer key questions that people with diabetes have about their current health status, about where their health is trending and what actions they can take to better manage their diabetes in the future as part of their disease-management plan with their provider.
 

• Insights – As the Sugar.IQ app uncovers behaviors associated with glucose patterns, personalized messages will be delivered in real-time to help people with diabetes understand how specific actions and habits affect their glucose levels. 
• Glycemic Assist – People with diabetes can ask the Sugar.IQ app to follow specific food- or therapy-related actions and events. By following items, Sugar.IQ will help discover the impact these items have on their personal glucose levels.
• Food logging – The Sugar.IQ app will quickly and easily track food in a diary to deliver meal-related insights that illustrate how specific foods impact an individual’s glucose levels.