It & #039;s Not Just Diabetes Patients Who Need Glucose Monitoring During This Pandemic

As reported last week, FDA is allowing both Dexcom and Abbott to supply continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) systems for use in the hospital setting during the coronavirus pandemic. This allows frontline healthcare workers in hospitals to remotely monitor patients' glucose levels while minimizing exposure to the virus that causes COVID-19 and preserving use of personal protective equipment. Dexcom CEO Kevin Sayer said the company had conversations with healthcare providers in Europe about the need for CGM technology for COVID-19 patients and the company started conversations with FDA early on about getting emergency approval for in-hospital use of the Dexcom CGM system. "The reason people were so attracted to the Dexcom technology over others relates to a couple of factors. Our iCGM classification, meaning we perform very well in the low and the high range so people knew it was accurate and they could depend on it, and then second, the telemetry aspect of all this," Sayer told MD+DI. "Literally, if we can put a sensor on a patient and get it communicating directly with a phone and possibly use the Share/Follow app, you have the ability for patients not to be bothered by healthcare professionals continually to have their fingers pricked, which is currently the standard." What was happening, he explained was that the glucose levels of diabetes patients hospitalized with COVID-19 were running way too high, Sa...
Source: MDDI - Category: Medical Devices Authors: Tags: COVID-19 Source Type: news