Several years ago I met Jutta Haaramo though a bit of serendipity. We share some interests and it's been great fun talking with her over the years. A bit over a year ago I learned about her efforts to make a dent in the Universe and do something about juvenile diabetes management. It's a tough problem that consumes an enormous amount of time and worry on the part of the children and their parents. It also happens to be an area where technology can be used to help out.
Jutta is amazing - she put together a team and an iPhone app that uses a bit of machine learning and gamification was born. This is really great stuff and is just emerging into something that can be used. So if you have diabetes or know someone who does - or if you're interested in serious medical aids that can run on iPhones and Apple Watches read on as Jutta continues with a guest post.
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My son was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes five years ago when he was just six years old. In type 1 diabetes (T1D) your pancreas stops producing insulin, so you need to dose it manually to keep blood sugar at a normal level. Keeping blood glucose stable is hard, as everything affects it: insulin, carbohydrate consumption, exercise, stress, other hormones etc.
We started to use continuous glucose monitor (CGM) to follow his sugar level every five minutes. For insulin delivery we use an insulin pump that delivers insulin in small doses throughout the day. Before every meal we calculate the carbs as the insulin is dosed according the amount of carbs eaten
Diabetes management is really complex. There is a risk of short term complications (severe hypoglycemia i.e. too low blood glucose and hyperglycemia, too high blood glucose), which can both be fatal. But the long term complications, which are caused by elevated blood glucose over time, are as scary. Heart disease, nerve damage, kidney failure, blindness, premature death can all be caused by diabetes. Diabetes also takes a huge amount of time: counting every carbohydrate you eat, calculating insulin doses, changing infusion sites and sensors just needs to be done, no matter how tired or overwhelmed you might feel.
No wonder there are many who know the mental burden of diabetes far too well. But being stressed about your condition does not help you to take any better care of yourself. Rather, we noticed that humour and positivity did help. Noticing the small wins (“oh, your blood glucose was really good at school today - well done!”) made a big difference. So we wanted to turn that approach into a new way of diabetes management. One that gives insights to future glucose levels and rewards you when you're succeeding in managing on your own.
This idea turned into Happy Bob, an app that uses gamification and machine learning to turn health data into rewarding and engaging experiences.
Users can follow their own blood glucose data and there are stars which can be collected when blood sugar is kept within target levels. The star counts are displayed and a user can achieve daily star targets and share scores with others. The app also uses personal blood glucose history data with machine learning to predict the user’s blood glucose up to two hours ahead. The prediction helps to foresee high and low blood sugar before they happen.
The interface is simple and playful. Happy Bob is also available in the Snarky Bob mode for those with a more sarcastic sense of humour.
The app is currently available on iPhone and is used by both children and adults. Users tell us Happy Bob makes diabetes management more fun and helps them to be more aware of own data. Everyone enjoys collecting stars and getting positive feedback. It’s still early but the app retention is really good.
Next we plan to add more health data in the experience, to provide a more holistic health management experience and more ways to be rewarded. Our goal is to help users foresee periods when they should pay extra attention to their blood sugar and health to prevent the risk of complications. We also want to add ways to use the stars earned, as that’s something many users have been asking for. We believe that by creating a daily, fun habit of good glucose management with Happy Bob, many people with diabetes can have a better life and health.
Happy Bob user feedback
First check out this video from Happy Bob user T1Swimmer .. she's great! It should come up for those of you who aren't FB users
https://www.facebook.com/T1Swimmer/videos/441338936474643/
If you are interested in testing out the Happy Bob App, have an iPhone and wear a CGM (continuous glucose monitor), you can download the app in the App Store https://apps.apple.com/app/happy-bob/id1444877516
For any information, please get in touch with me at [email protected]. You can follow us on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/happybob_app/ or read more at our website https://happybob.app/
My three boys. Finland has the world’s highest incidence of type 1 diabetes. Diabetes is on the rise across the globe. With good glucose control most of the complications can be prevented.
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