From Type 1 Tools

I get an email from Google every day. (And boy, do I love me some Google. I don't know how I survived before it - I had to actually look things up. In books! And card catalogs! Now, tap-tap-tap and lo, I have a bajillion links at my fingertips.) Sorry. I digress. Frequently.

Anyway, this email from Google today featured a few diabetes-related designs that were up for something called an INDEX Award (None of these designs won, sadly). INDEX: is a global non-profit network organization that focuses on Design to Improve Life - e.g. design that substantially improves important aspects of human life - worldwide. (from their website)

Four items in the Body category are diabetes-related. One is the Omnipod pump, which I've heard of and seen at Olivia's endocrinologists and demoed at Clara Barton Camp.

The other three I'd never heard of, though. The first is called the Diabet-Cool. It's designed to use solar power to keep up to five insulin pens cold. It can be positioned outside or on a backpack to catch the sun's rays and is specifically for people who live or travel through areas without electricity. It doesn't appear to be in production yet - the only info I could find was directly linked to the design site nomination. Still, it seems like it could be useful if it were to be produced.

Second, something by Bang & Olufsen (yep, the high-end stereo system people) called a C-Cap. It is a device that alerts you via a green light when you need to take your insulin. It's designed to fit over the end of an insulin pen. This is specifically for long-acting insulins - something that I had trouble with when Olivia was on Lantus. Had I given it to her? Had I double dosed her? A device like this could be quite helpful in alleviating those questions and allowing a patient to be more compliant.

The final item that really caught my eye and made me think "Wow, that's clever" was the FlashCarb system. It's a box of 49 cards containing the carb counts of common foods. You can get them in card form or magnet form, to use on your fridge. That, my friends, is pure genius. What a great way to teach your child about carbohydrates. It would be a useful tool for school nurses, babysitters, grandparents, just about anyone who takes care of someone with diabetes. These are actually for sale now. Perusing their website, they seem to have a host of useful items - stickers, cheat sheets and log books - that look user-friendly and are definitely affordable. Those magnets, though, those rock. I may have to buy a set.