Diabetes is a chronic disease and can be a constant source of stress for patients, due to its consistent presence in their everyday lives.
In order to prevent the negative effects of diabetes, modern technologies play a key role by offering patients a device for diabetes to effectively manage their disease. Medical and technical progress is motivated not only by increasing the options for treating the disease, but also by the possibility of improving the patients’ quality of life.
According to a study, about 4 million adults aged 20-79 years will die worldwide in 2020 due to diabetes and its complications. Diabetes is also estimated to be the cause of 11.3% of global deaths among people in this age group (Reportlinker.com).
There are two main causes of the spread of diabetes in the world. The first is longevity, as the average life expectancy is increasing and will continue to increase.
This increases the likelihood of developing the disease as older people are more susceptible to the disease due to muscle loss as physical activity is reduced and due to weight gain.
The second cause is obesity and with an increasing amount of overweight or obese people the number of diabetes patients is growing. The risk of developing diabetes later in life is increased by lack of exercise during childhood and childhood obesity.
DIABETES DEVICES: TECHNOLOGICAL TRENDS
The main diabetes devices trends which influence the innovation and evolution of diabetes devices are:
1. Telehealth
There is a shift towards healthcare provided at home and through smartphones, rather than in hospitals.
The main use cases of telehealth include patient care via text, voice or video conferencing, medical education and mentoring, e-health patient portals, and remote patient monitoring.
Treatments can be remotely adjusted based on patient’s data, such as the blood glucose level, and patients can be automatically notified of that information.
2. Big Data & Machine Learning
To avoid hypo- and hyper-glycaemic events, machine learning algorithms learn and predict blood glucose patterns. Cognitive computing provides insights and coaching based on a combination of specific and real-time patient-generated information delivered by sensors, allowing patients to have personalised management of their disease. Gene sequencing technologies allow the prevention and personalised treatment of diseases based on the patient’s genotype. This leads to an early diagnosis of diabetes based on the genetic risk score. Thanks to diabetes devices innovation that allows for use in home settings, the data provided allows for fact-based self-management of the disease.
3. Networked Care
Thanks to online data sharing platforms, patients become more aware and proactive about their disease and are able to self-manage their diabetes thanks to an intuitive interface and real-time data. Furthermore, on such online platforms patients can share their knowledge and provide emotional support to others.
4. Non-invasive Insulin Delivery Systems
Until recently, insulin was administered by intramuscular and subcutaneous injection which was rather uncomfortable and painful. Today, there are several non-invasive delivery methods, such as oral, transdermal, pulmonary or intranasal, which have sufficient bioavailability for clinical applications.
5. Smart Devices
Smart devices are mainly characterized by wearable technologies and smartphone apps. Thanks to new diabetes devices and software, patients continuously track their blood sugar levels and keep an eye on their body conditions.
Diabetes apps are mainly used for insulin and medication registration, data export, communication and diet registration.
With the growth of the mobile health markets (mHealth) and wearables devices, people can self-manage their disease in a more affordable way.
Smart devices for diabetes made self-management cheaper and easier.
6. Closed-Loop Systems
Diabetics have to perform a number of different tasks manually: monitoring glucose levels, determining the correct treatment and actually administering it to keep blood sugar levels in a safe range. To automate these tasks there are closed-loop systems, which make life less stressful and reduce the possibility of error.
A closed-loop system can significantly preserve a patient’s life, especially for the elderly and the very young, by automating formerly manual processes.
The market of medical devices for diabetes
The diabetes device market has been valued at USD 49 billion in 2020, and is expected to reach USD 69 billion by 2026, registering a growth of 5. 75% during the period of 2021- 2026 (Reportlinker.com).
This increase can be attributed to different factors, such as the growth in the prevalence of the disease and the increasing number of programmes initiated by various health organisations to make people aware of their health status.
Diabetes devices Market Trends
1. The incidence of diabetes is expected to increase over time. This also affects youth and young adults due to the current lifestyle.
2. North America Holds Highest Market Share during the Year 2020
This is mainly due to the increase in the prevalence of diabetes in North America due to stress, unhealthy diets and obesity.
3. The competitive landscape for Diabetes Devices is moderately fragmented, with few significant and generic players. Competition among them is high, as each player is struggling to develop a new diabetes device and offer it at competitive prices. Moreover, in order to increase their market shares, players are tapping into new markets, where demand is very high compared to supply such as emerging economies.
If you need expert advice on designing your next medical device for diabetes, Creanova can help you through the entire diabetes devices innovation process, from the earlier stages of requirements definition and feasibility study to industrial design, engineering and prototyping, up to contract manufacturing (certified with ISO 13485).
So, contact us to collaborate in building the right plan for your project and together we’ll bring your idea to the market.
