Joanne Tauber Designer

Helping people manage their diabetes

This project is about enabling people to take ownership over managing their diabetes. Diabetes is one of the most difficult long term conditions to manage and good management means keeping blood glucose levels under control.

Extensive user research was undertaken by going to diabetes support group meetings and by interviewing people; diabetics, their family members and medical specialists. A valuable research method used was cultural probes kits. These question and task kits attempted to find out people’s thoughts, feelings, loves, hates, hopes, fears and temptations.

With a broader understanding of what it is like to live with diabetes, a reoccurring issue appeared: the difficulty of recognising low blood sugar before having a hypoglycaemic attack. Many people to not test their blood glucose levels as often as they should because it is painful and awkward.

This project focuses on improving the blood glucose testing experience.

C-Lite, a blood glucose testing watch

C-Lite is a watch with an integrated continuous blood glucose monitoring and signal system. It tests blood glucose levels painlessly and discreetly.

The watch is for all diabetics, especially insulin-dependant people. It is extremely useful for children, newly diagnosed people, gestational diabetes, those prone to hypoglycaemic episodes, and those who have difficulty controlling glucose levels.

C-Lite uses non-invasive technology that uses occlusion spectroscopy to measure the variation in light responses in the blood to calculate the glucose concentration.

A visible colour change on the side of the watch signals the user to act before glucose levels rise or fall to a dangerous level, preventing the risk of hypo or hyperglycaemia. Accurate blood glucose readings can be seen on the watch face.

There are different continuous testing modes for sleeping, driving and sport and spot checks can be done easily.

C-Nite, the alarm clock

By the very nature of low blood glucose, it is often difficult to recognise levels dropping oneself. People are often worried about having a hypoglycaemic attack in their sleep.

C-Nite is a bedside alarm clock that works in conjunction with the watch. It is extremely useful for parents of young diabetic children. When C-Lite is set to sleep mode, it tests continuously. The C-Nite clock receives a signal to alert someone in another location when glucose levels become dangerously high or low. Accurate readings are seen on the clock face and C-Nite can also programme C-Lite to do a spot check.

Making glucose levels visible

Like current blood glucose monitors, C-Lite stores readings. By scanning C-Lite to a mobile phone or computer, the readings can be viewed easily and discretely. The results can be compared to see the effect of certain activities such as sport. If readings are abnormal then the diabetic nurse can be consulted.

You can give C-Lite a personal touch for a special occasion with a personalised strap. Attaches easily with magnet clips, the C-Lite can be enhanced for all occasions. C-Lite straps are available in a variety of different graphic styles and materials. Unique designs can be created on the C-Lite website, where the entire range can be viewed.

The C-Lite monitoring system makes blood glucose levels visible, helping people manage their diabetes.

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