iBGStar Turns Your iPhone into a Blood Glucose Meter

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the iBGStar Meter - a blood glucose monitoring system that works with the iPhone and iPod touch.

As the first and only blood glucose meter to be used in conjunction with the iPhone and the iPod Touch, the iBGStar  allows users diagnosed with diabetes to track, record and manage important information on-the-go.

The accessory is like a dongle that plugs directly into the dock connector and works with the free iBGStar Diabetes Manager App that is available in the App Store.

iBGStar Test strips need to be bought along with the glucose meter that is inserted into the strip port to take the blood samples. The dongle then syncs the blood glucose reading with the iBGStar Diabetes Manager App. You can then view and analyse the data with the iPhone app and also share the results with your healthcare provider.

Shawna Gvazdauskas, Vice President and Head of Devices of Sanofi-Aventis, the developer of the iBGStar, noted in a phone call conducted by Diabetes Mine:

“This is a momentous occasion. Obviously we’re as excited as you are, but I can’t disclose any details at this early stage. We’re not issuing any statements yet, but I can say that a ‘generic’ announcement was made at the mHealth conference today.”

The approval of such a product by the FDA paves the way for future innovations in medical technology. Analyst David Kliff of Diabetic Investor throws in his two cents:

“With this approval we’ll finally see if iPhone users who also have diabetes will favor a meter that works with their phone or will they remain loyal to their existing monitor. Although the iPhone is wildly popular and the iBGStar will certainly have the ‘cool’ factor, this does not solve some of the fundamental dynamics of the BGM market. Sanofi still must get the system on formulary and make the cost on par with existing systems. While there will a sub-segment of the market that will pay for the iBGStar, after all people have been known to stand in line for hours waiting for the latest version of the iPhone, the iBGStar as cool as it is just a glucose monitor.”

You can purchase iBGStar from Apple's online store for $99.95 here. You can also check out  iBGStar's website at www.ibgstar.us for additional information.