New Tools for Glucose Monitoring

SOURCE: Bolinder J, Antuna R, Geelhoed-Duijvestijn P, et al. Novel glucose-sensing technology and hypoglycaemia in type 1 diabetes: A multicentre, non-masked, randomised, controlled trial. Lancet 2016;388:2254-2263.

The inconvenience of frequent finger-stick testing to assess control of diabetes is particularly problematic for type 1 diabetics. The FreeStyle Libre (trade name) is a sensor the size of a human hair that is inserted in the skin of the upper arm and attached to a patch that records glucose readings over eight hours. The reading device can be downloaded and has the capacity to store up to 90 days of readings. Does the FreeStyle Libre outperform traditional fingerstick methodologies?

To test this hypothesis, Bolinder et al randomized participants with already well-controlled type 1 diabetes (n = 328) to use the “flash glucose monitoring system” or typical finger-stick monitoring. The primary outcome of the trial was amount of time in hypoglycemia during six months of follow-up. Time in hypoglycemia was reduced by 38% with the Freestyle Libre device, compared to “traditional” methods. A small number of participants (n = 10) experienced local reactions at the site of insertion of the sensor.

The device recently received FDA approval. A FreeStyle Libre “starter kit” currently is advertised at $359.