Future At-Home Testing Options Could Alter Diabetes Testing
Important developments in CGM and HbA1c testing could mean better diagnosis and management of diabetes
Rachel Muenz is the managing editor of G2 Intelligence and was previously senior digital content editor at Lab Manager, a publication dedicated to teaching lab professionals the management skills they need to run their laboratories as effectively as possible. She has more than 10 years of experience as a writer, editor, and curator of both print and digital content, with the majority focused on laboratory topics. Rachel holds an honors bachelor of arts degree in English from the University of Toronto and a diploma in journalism from Centennial College. Rachel regularly contributes news and insights to Today's Clinical Lab.
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According to a recent report from Kalorama Information, a leading publisher of market research in medical markets, two key technologies are likely to be a driving force in the evolution of diabetes testing as we progress into 2022 and beyond.
Those technologies include continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) and hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) testing, which offer several advantages over monitoring blood sugar levels via the traditional test strip and monitor-based methods.
CGM uses a tiny sensor inserted beneath the user’s skin on either their arm or belly that measures glucose from the fluid between cells, sending the information via a transmitter to a receiver, which can be a separate device or part of an insulin pump. While this technology is now becoming well established, companies are working on further improvements, in particular, closed-loop systems that automatically read CGM data and calculate how much insulin to administer.
While CGM remains a fairly new option, the HbA1c test is a common tool for managing and diagnosing type 1 and 2 diabetes and, like CGM, can also be done day or night. Moreover, the report notes that point-of-care and immunoassay-based HbA1c tests are being used more often than high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC)-based HbA1c tests due to their wider availability and simplicity. According to the report, these point-of-care and immunoassay-based HbA1c tests could soon also evolve into at-home options.
As the World Health Organization estimates that diabetes deaths will increase by more than 50 percent in the coming decade, and with an estimated 240 million people worldwide currently living with diabetes but who have yet to be diagnosed, these emerging options for diabetes testing could be critical to managing the disease on a global scale.
To learn more, read the full article in Laboratory Industry Report, a publication from G2 Intelligence, Clinical Lab Manager’s sister brand.