Medtronic’s Guardian Connect Continuous Glucometer with Predictive Capabilities Approved by FDA

The FDA granted Medtronic its approval for the Guardian Connect continuous glucose monitor. It’s intended for diabetes patients between 14 and 75 years of age that tend to get multiple daily insulin injections.

A small wireless device, the Guardian Sensor 3, is attached to the skin, which takes regular blood samples to test for sugar levels, transmitting the readings to the patient’s smartphone. The Guardian Connect App can be used to access the latest and all the previous readings, and to understand trends in relation to one’s activities and eating habits. When glucose levels go beyond pre-defind limits, the app can sound alerts and send out messages to family and caretakers. The physician can access the data via Medtronic’s CareLink system, which compiles the readings into charts and reports.



What’s particularly interesting is that the system uses predictive algorithms to let patients know of high chances for unwanted events. Medtronic says that sometimes the system provides up to an hour’s warning and that in a study, 98.5 percent of hypoglycemic events were alerted by the system.