26
LIVING advertorial
Something new (part 1)
Innovation is
'the practical
implementation
of ideas that
result in the
introduction
of new goods
or services or
improvement in
offering goods
or services',
according to
Wikipedia. Here
we talk to John
Hughes and
Dean Minnock
of Innovation
Zed about their
insulin delivery
solutions,
from inception
to evolution.
By Sue Marshall.
John Hughes. Dean Minnock.
Thirteen years ago, John
Hughes was working at
an e-learning software
company. He'd had Type I
diabetes since being diagnosed at the
age of 40. One day, it seems he made
a mistake and gave himself a 'double
dose' of insulin prior to taking the
dog for a walk; he collapsed in the
park with a severe hypo. Once he had
recovered, he started to question,
'how can you possibly stop that
happening again?'
He says, "I wondered who would
be able to understand the factors
involved, bearing in mind the status
of insulin pens back then. I took one
of my colleagues, William Cirillo,
to lunch to talk it over. Between
my knowledge of diabetes and his
knowledge of engineering we started
to think about making an insulin
pen from scratch that could tell you
when you last injected. However,
we thought that was probably too
difficult, would take too long and
could be expensive. Then we had
the idea of using the existing pens
and adding a gadget to the top of it.
William started to draw an idea on a
napkin. Ultimately this idea gave rise
to the InsulCheck CLASSIC which
told you how long it had been since
you last used the pen. So at least you
knew that; it was something to go
on if you couldn't remember your
last dose."
Co-founder Cirillo was 'very
techie', according to Hughes, while
he himself had a computer science
degree, but he'd studied that 'a
while ago'. He had since trained as a
primary school teacher before taking
up with the e-learning software
company.
New crew
Meanwhile Dean Minnock, now the
CEO at Innovation Zed, came on
board as a research student. One
way or another he has remained
on board as the company and its
devices evolved. While not having
diabetes himself, he was a student of
physiology having taken a Masters