KIT
KIT THAT'S COMING SOON...
WHAT'S NEXT FROM
ASCENCIA
T
he Contour Next One is
a seamless meter and
smartphone app. The
Contour meter range is
well-known in the UK but
until recently was under the auspices of
Bayer, the huge pharmaceutical company.
Recent changes in the company set up
has given rise to a small, dedicated
company called Ascencia Diabetes Care.
Based in the UK, the company's focus
now is to grow awareness of Ascencia
name and brand. Diabetes Specialist
Nurses know the name well, but patients
might not be as familiar with it yet.
The company is starting out in the UK
this month with the launch of it's Contour
Next One meter and app. It's possible to
order the new meter now, with distribution
taking place from 18th October. An
evolution of the Contour Next USB meter,
which had won hearts with its easy
downloads into PCs, the Coutour Next
One comes with an iOS and Android
app (both together, not one first while the
second continues in development).
It's not the first meter and app combo,
but it comes with pedigree, and seeing
blood test results on Smartphones leads
to an immediate understanding of current
diabetes control, aided by the use of
colours, graphs and alerts within the app
itself. With the tagline, 'your diabetes,
illuminated,' Ascencia's plan is connectivity
for all, not just niche audiences. A while
back, data downloading could be quite a
challenge, and it was only for those who
wanted to download to PCs. Now it's
accesible to anyone with a smartphone
,thanks to meter-and-app-combos such
as this. Research indicates that 52% of
people with diabetes using a health app
say their behaviour changed as a result.
The Contour Diabetes app will only
work with this new meter. It's worth
noting that he accuracy of the new
meter exceeds the recommended ISO
standards while using same Contour
Next test strip that is widely used already
and on prescription. So, if you have a
few boxes in your cupboard, there's no
need to use them up. You'd be ready to
get going without having to get a new
prescription.
App ready
The meter is 'app ready' out of the box,
you just need to download the app. All
the data it collects is stored in the Cloud,
which means you can log in to it from
anywhere. Likewise, the user can give
permissions to allow parents and carers
www.contournextone.co.uk/des16 to log in to view. Patterns and trends can
be shared from your phone via email so
you can get advice without going to clinic.
Up to 800 readings are stored in the
meter, with more stored in the Cloud.
Aided by the use of a smartLIGHT feature,
it uses a colour coded system to give you
instant feedback on your blood glucose
control, letting you know if your result is
above, within or below target. It's an easy
way to quickly understand your blood
glucose status from which you can make
sensible dosing decisions.
Parents and carers are likley to be
interested in the app's capacity to be
set so that if the user has a low reading,
the mobile can automatically phone
a designated contact. It's also good
to know that the app can be used on
multiple devices (it can be used on an
iPhone or iPad or on other smartphone
and a tablet), allowing for greater flexibility.
It's also very easy to use, aiming to help
people to make sense of blood glucose
readings with personalised insights. The
folk at Ascencia Diabetes Care are also
keen to point out that, over time the app
will evolve. Sometimes technology can
seem overwhelming. But sometimes, you
just know when something not only looks
good, but feels right. This is one of them.