Displaying glucose measurements on a handheld glucose meter

A computer-implemented method is provided for displaying glucose measurements of a person on a handheld glucose meter. The method includes: determining a current blood glucose measurement for a person from a test strip inserted into a port of the handheld glucose meter; displaying the current glucose measurement on a result screen of the handheld glucose meter immediately following the measurement of the current glucose measurement by the handheld glucose meter; providing an indicium of a logbook screen on the result screen concurrently with the display of the current glucose measurement on the result screen; and displaying the logbook screen in response to a user input received by the handheld glucose meter, where the logbook screen displays the current glucose measurement along with at least two preceding glucose measurements of the person.

FIELD

The present disclosure relates generally to medical devices and more particularly to a system and method for displaying glucose measurements of a person on a handheld glucose meter.

BACKGROUND

Persons with diabetes have difficulty regulating blood glucose levels in their bodies. As a consequence, many of these persons carry specialized electronic meters, called blood glucose meters, which allow them to periodically measure their glucose levels and take appropriate action, such as administering insulin. After measuring their current glucose level, some persons may want to view a logbook that displays a history of their preceding glucose levels. Some persons may want to view the logbook to see changes in their glucose levels, for example. Therefore, there is a need for a glucose meter that allows a user to review the logbook after taking a blood glucose measurement.

SUMMARY

In one aspect of this disclosure, a computer-implemented method is provided for displaying glucose measurements of a person on a handheld glucose meter. The computer-implemented method includes: determining, by the handheld glucose meter, a current blood glucose measurement for a person from a test strip inserted into a port of the handheld glucose meter, the test strip having a reaction site for receiving a sample of fluid from a patient; displaying, by the handheld glucose meter, the current glucose measurement on a result screen of the handheld glucose meter immediately following the measurement of the current glucose measurement by the handheld glucose meter; providing, by the handheld glucose meter, an indicium of a logbook screen on the result screen concurrently with the display of the current glucose measurement on the result screen; and displaying, by the handheld glucose meter, the logbook screen in response to a user input received by the handheld glucose meter, where the logbook screen displays the current glucose measurement along with at least two preceding glucose measurements of the person.

In another aspect of this disclosure, a handheld glucose meter is presented. The handheld glucose meter includes: a display; a port configured to receive a test strip having a reaction site for receiving a sample of blood from a patient; a glucose measurement module that operates to determine a current blood glucose measurement for a patient from a test strip inserted into the port of the handheld glucose meter; and a user interface module in data communication with the glucose measurement module and the display. The user interface module operates to display the current glucose measurement on a result screen of the display in response to the measurement of the current glucose measurement by the glucose measurement module; provide, on the display, an indicium of a logbook screen on the result screen concurrently with the display of the current glucose measurement on the result screen; receive a user input to display the logbook screen; and display the logbook screen in response to the user input received by the handheld glucose meter, where the logbook screen displays the current glucose measurement along with at least two preceding glucose measurements of the patient.

In yet another aspect of this disclosure, a computer-implemented method is provided for displaying blood glucose measurements of a patient on a handheld blood glucose meter. The computer-implemented method includes: determining, by the handheld blood glucose meter, a current blood glucose measurement for the patient from a test strip inserted into a port of the handheld blood glucose meter, the test strip having a reaction site for receiving a sample of blood from the patient; displaying, by the handheld blood glucose meter, the current blood glucose measurement on a result screen of the handheld blood glucose meter in response to the measurement of the current blood glucose measurement by the handheld blood glucose meter; displaying, by the handheld blood glucose meter, a single previous blood glucose measurement of the patient on the result screen concurrently with the display of the current blood glucose measurement on the result screen; receiving, by the handheld blood glucose meter, a selection of the single previous blood glucose measurement being displayed on the result screen; and displaying, by the handheld blood glucose meter, a logbook screen in response to the selection received by the handheld blood glucose meter, where the logbook screen displays the current blood glucose measurement along with at least two previous glucose measurements of the patient.

This section provides a general summary of the disclosure, and is not a comprehensive disclosure of its full scope or all of its features. Further areas of applicability will become apparent from the description provided herein. The description and specific examples in this summary are intended for purposes of illustration only and are not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure.

The drawings described herein are for illustrative purposes only of selected embodiments and not all possible implementations, and are not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure. Corresponding reference numerals indicate corresponding parts throughout the several views of the drawings.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

FIG. 1depicts an example handheld glucose meter10. The handheld glucose meter10includes a display11and various buttons that can be a user to control the handheld glucose meter10. The buttons may include an up button12, a down button13, a select button14and a back button15. The up button12and the down button13may be used to scroll up and down a screen being displayed on the display11. The select button14may be used to make a selection, such as to press ‘OK’ or to click on an option being displayed on the display11. The back button15may be used to navigate back to a previous screen being displayed on the handheld glucose meter10.

In this example embodiment, the handheld glucose meter10is in data communication via a wireless data link with a diabetes management application16. The handheld glucose meter10is configured to receive a sample of blood from a patient and determine a blood glucose measure for the patient from the blood sample. One or more blood glucose measurements may in turn be transmitted over the wireless data link to the diabetes management application16for further processing. In an example embodiment, the diabetes management application16resides on a mobile phone18. In other embodiments, the diabetes management application16may be native to a remote server with its user interface presented on the mobile phone18. In some embodiments, data is transferred to and from the handheld glucose meter10using the Bluetooth wireless technology standard (e.g., low energy feature of Bluetooth 4.0) although other types of communication transports are contemplated by this disclosure, such as Wi-Fi, ZigBee, NFC (Near Field Communications), or the like.

FIG. 2depicts an example hardware arrangement for the handheld glucose meter10. The handheld glucose meter10is comprised generally of a measurement module22, a processing subsystem23and a communication subsystem24. Each of these components is further described below. While the primary components are discussed herein, it is understood that other components (e.g., batteries) may be needed for the overall operational of the meter.

The measurement module22cooperatively interacts with a test strip inserted into a strip port21to determine a glucose measurement from the sample of blood on the test strip. The measurement module22may include a code key that includes calibration information for the test strips being read by the meter. As used herein, the term module may refer to, be part of, or include an application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC); an electronic circuit; a combinational logic circuit; a field programmable gate array (FPGA); a processor (shared, dedicated, or group) that executes code; other suitable components that provide the described functionality; or a combination of some or all of the above. The term module may further include memory that stores code executed by the processor, where code, as used above, may include software, firmware, and/or microcode, and may refer to programs, routines, functions, classes, and/or objects.

The processing subsystem23is configured to receive the glucose measurements from the measurement module22which may in turn be stored by the processing subsystem23. Glucose measurements may also be displayed by the processing subsystem23on the display11. The user can interact with the meter using various user interface components, such as buttons (e.g. the buttons12,13,14,15), switches, a speaker, a microphone, USB port, etc. Each of these components is interfaced with the processing subsystem23. In an exemplary embodiment, the processing subsystem23includes a microprocessor26and one or more volatile and/or non-volatile memories27although other implementations are envisioned for the processing subsystem.

The processing subsystem23is also interfaced with the communication subsystem24. In an exemplary embodiment, the communication module includes a wireless transceiver28. The wireless transceiver operates to communicate the glucose measurements and other data wirelessly via a data link to a remote device physically separated from the meter. The communication subsystem can also include an antenna, microcontroller, voltage and power control circuits and a flash memory device. Although a few primary components of the handheld glucose meter10are discussed herein, it is readily understood that other components (e.g., power source) may be needed to implement the meter.

FIG. 3depicts an example embodiment of the handheld glucose meter10. In this example embodiment, the handheld glucose meter10includes a glucose measurement module32, a glucose measurement datastore33, a result screen generation module34, an indicium datastore35, a user interface module36and a logbook screen generation module37.

The glucose measurement module32is similar to the measurement module22. The glucose measurement module32determines a current blood glucose measurement for a person, for example based on a test strip inserted into the strip port21as described above. The glucose measurement module32may store the current blood glucose measurement in the glucose measurement datastore33. The glucose measurement datastore33may reside in the memory27. The glucose measurement module32may send the current blood glucose measurement to the result screen generation module34.

The result screen generation module34generates a result screen (e.g. result screen55shown inFIG. 5). The result screen includes the current blood glucose measurement. The result screen generation module34may receive the current blood glucose measurement from the glucose measurement module32. Alternatively, the result screen generation module34may retrieve the current blood glucose measurement from the glucose measurement datastore33.

In addition to the current blood glucose measurement, the result screen may include an indicium for a logbook screen. In this example embodiment, the indicium for the logbook screen is a single preceding blood glucose measurement (e.g. indicium58shown inFIG. 5). The result screen generation module34may retrieve the single preceding blood glucose measurement from the glucose measurement datastore33.

In another example embodiment, the result screen generation module34may retrieve the indicium for the logbook screen from the indicium datastore35. The indicium datastore35may include indicia35a-ethat may include icons, labels or images that can be used to represent a logbook. The result screen generation module34may retrieve one of the indicia from the indicium datastore35and include the retrieved indicium in the result screen (e.g. indicium58′ shown inFIG. 6B). In this example embodiment, the result screen may include the indicium for the logbook screen and only the current blood glucose measurement, not any preceding blood glucose measurements (e.g. result screen55′ shown inFIG. 6B).

In yet another example embodiment, the result screen may include the current blood glucose measurement, the single preceding blood glucose measurement and an indicium for the logbook screen that may be selected from the indicium datastore35(e.g. indicium58″ shown inFIG. 6C). The indicium for the logbook screen may be separate from the single preceding blood glucose measurement. In this example embodiment, the result screen may include the indicium for the logbook screen, the current blood glucose measurement and a single preceding blood glucose measurement, not other preceding blood glucose measurements (e.g. result screen55″ shown inFIG. 6C).

Upon generating the result screen, the result screen generation module34may cooperate with the user interface module36to display the result screen on the display11of the handheld glucose meter10. The user interface module36displays the result screen generated by the result screen generation module34on the display11of the handheld glucose meter10. The result screen includes the current blood glucose measurement and the indicium for the logbook screen. As described above, the indicium for the logbook screen may be the single preceding blood glucose measurement or an indicium that is selected from the indicium datastore35.

When the result screen is being displayed on the display11, the user interface module36may receive a user input to display the logbook screen. The user input to display the logbook screen may be received via the buttons12,13,14and15. In this example embodiment, the user input to display the logbook screen may be received when a user selects the indicium for the logbook screen that is displayed on the result screen. The user may select the indicium for the logbook screen by depressing the select button14. If the indicium for the logbook screen is the single preceding blood glucose measurement, then the user input to display the logbook screen may be received when the user selects the single preceding blood glucose measurement. If the indicium for the logbook screen is an icon, an image or a label selected from the indicium datastore35, then the user input to display the logbook screen may be received when the user selects the icon, the image or the label being displayed on the result screen.

The user interface module36invokes the logbook screen generation module37in response to receiving the user input to display the logbook screen. The logbook screen generation module37generates a logbook screen (e.g. logbook screen59shown inFIG. 5). The logbook screen includes a plurality of preceding blood glucose measurements. The logbook screen may include the current blood glucose measurement and at least two preceding blood glucose measurements of the person. The logbook screen generation module37may retrieve the current blood glucose measurement and the two preceding blood glucose measurements from the glucose measurement datastore33.

In this example embodiment, the logbook screen generation module37retrieves at least two preceding blood glucose measurements from the glucose measurement datastore33. In another example embodiment, the logbook screen generation module37may retrieve all preceding blood glucose measurements or all preceding blood glucose measurements from the same day as the current blood glucose measurement.

The logbook screen generation module37may display the current blood glucose measurement in a different manner than the preceding blood glucose measurements. For example, the current blood glucose measurement may be highlighted or annotated, whereas the preceding blood glucose measurements may be left unhighlighted or unannotated. The logbook screen generation module37may cooperate with the user interface module36to display the logbook screen on the display11.

The user interface module36may provide the user with an option to navigate within the logbook screen. For example, the user interface module36may scroll the logbook screen to display earlier blood glucose measurements in response to the user pressing the down button13on the handheld glucose meter10. The user interface module36may navigate away from the logbook screen and back to the result screen in response to the user pressing the back button15on the handheld glucose meter10.

FIG. 4depicts an example method for displaying the logbook screen. A current glucose measurement is taken at40. The current glucose measurement may be taken by the glucose measurement module32as described above. The current glucose measurement is stored at41. The current glucose measurement may be stored in the glucose measurement datastore33as described above.

The current glucose measurement is displayed on a result screen at42. In this example embodiment, the current glucose measurement is displayed on the result screen immediately after the measurement is taken. In other embodiments, a user input may be required to display the current blood glucose measurement.

An indicium for a logbook screen is displayed on the result screen at43. The indicium for the logbook screen is displayed concurrently with the current blood glucose measurement. As explained above, the indicium for the logbook screen may be a single preceding glucose measurement or the indicium for the logbook screen may be an icon, a label or an image selected from the indicium datastore35.

If a user input to display the logbook screen is received at44, then a plurality of preceding blood glucose measurements are retrieved from the datastore and displayed on a logbook screen. For example, at least two preceding glucose measurements are retrieved from the datastore at45and displayed on the logbook screen at46. However, if the database only has a single preceding blood glucose measurement stored therein then the single preceding blood glucose measurement is retrieved. Similarly, if the database has no preceding blood glucose measurements then a message may be displayed on the logbook screen (e.g. ‘no previous measurements’). As explained above, the preceding glucose measurements may be retrieved by the logbook screen generation module37from the glucose measurement datastore33.

The current glucose measurement may also be retrieved from the datastore at47and displayed on the logbook screen at48. The current glucose measurement may be highlighted on the logbook screen at49. In other embodiments, the current glucose measurement is annotated in some other way, for example the current glucose measurement may be displayed in a different font than the preceding glucose measurements.

FIG. 5illustrates example screens displayed on the handheld glucose meter10during a testing scenario. From a main menu screen, the user may elect to perform a glucose test. An insert strip screen51may be displayed when the user selects a ‘perform test’ item on the main menu and a test strip is not inserted into the handheld glucose meter10. Once a test strip has been inserted, a quality check screen52may appear and is displayed while a quality check is performed by the handheld glucose meter10. The quality check screen52may also appear when the user selects the ‘perform test’ item on the main menu and a test strip is present in the handheld glucose meter10. Once the quality check has been completed, the handheld glucose meter10is ready to perform a test.

To begin a test, the user may be prompted to apply a blood sample by displaying an apply drop screen53. In response to the prompt, the user provides a blood sample using the test strip, where the test strip includes a reaction site that receives the blood sample from the patient. Upon receipt of the blood sample, the handheld glucose meter10proceeds to analyze the blood sample in a manner readily known in the art. An analyzing screen54may be displayed while the test is being performed by the handheld glucose meter10.

Once the test completes, a current blood glucose measurement is displayed on a result screen55. A numeric value for the current blood glucose measurement is displayed along with other information pertaining to the measurement. Upon seeing the current blood glucose measurement, the user may elect to navigate away from the result screen55, for example by depressing the back button15. In this case, the user will return to the main menu screen and the result may be transmitted.

Alternatively, upon seeing the current blood glucose measurement, the user may elect to enter a comment pertaining to the glucose measurement. To do so, the user may use the up button12or the down button13to select the add comment function on the result screen55. A choose comment screen56may be displayed in response to the user electing to enter a comment. In this example embodiment, the user may select from a listing of comments which include ‘before meal’, ‘after meal’, ‘fasting’ and ‘bedtime’. After the user selects a comment from the list, a result screen57is displayed. It is noted that the result screen57displays the selected comment along with the current blood glucose measurement.

After reviewing the result screen57, the user may elect to navigate away from the result screen57. In response to navigating way from the result screen57, the handheld glucose meter10may try transmitting the glucose measurement, including any comment, automatically to a paired device (e.g. the mobile phone18).

The result screens55and57display an indicium58for a logbook screen. In this example embodiment, the indicium58for the logbook screen is a single preceding glucose measurement. As discussed above, in other embodiments, the indicium58may be an icon, a label or an image that may be selected from the indicium datastore35. In this example embodiment, the indicium58is the same as the single preceding blood glucose measurement being displayed on the result screens55and57. In other embodiments, the indicium58may be separate from the single preceding blood glucose measurement. The user may elect to view the logbook screen by selecting the indicium58. The user may select the indicium58by depressing the select button14.

In response to receiving a user input to display the logbook screen, a logbook screen59is displayed. The logbook screen59includes a plurality of blood glucose measurements that were captured by the handheld glucose meter10in the past. In this embodiment, the logbook screen59includes the current blood glucose measurement and three preceding blood glucose measurements of the person. In other embodiments, the logbook screen59may only include two preceding blood glucose measurements of the person. If there is only a single preceding blood glucose measurement, then the logbook screen59displays the single preceding blood glucose measurement. If there are no preceding blood glucose measurements, then the logbook screen59may display a message indicating that there are no preceding blood glucose measurements (e.g. ‘no preceding measurements’). As explained earlier, the logbook screen generation module37may retrieve the current blood glucose measurement and the preceding blood glucose measurements from the glucose measurement datastore33.

FIG. 6Adepicts an example result screen55. The result screen55displays data corresponding with a current blood glucose measurement (132 mg/dL). The result screen55also displays the indicium58for the logbook screen. In this example embodiment, the indicium58for the logbook screen is a preceding blood glucose measurement (75 mg/dL).

FIG. 6Bdepicts another example result screen55′. The result screen55′ displays data corresponding with a current blood glucose measurement (132 mg/dL). The result screen55′ only displays data corresponding with the current blood glucose measurement and not any preceding blood glucose measurements. The result screen55′ also displays an indicium58′ (‘View Logbook’) for a logbook screen. The indicium58′ for the logbook may be a label from the indicium datastore35.

FIG. 6Cdepicts yet another example result screen55″. The result screen55″ displays data corresponding with the current blood glucose measurement (132 mg/dL) and a single preceding glucose result (75 mg/dL). The result screen55″ also displays an indicium58″ for the logbook screen. The indicium58″ may be an image from the indicium datastore35.

The indicia58,58′ and 58″ may be selected be a user of the handheld glucose meter10to provide a user input to the handheld glucose meter10to display the logbook screen. In response to receiving the user input to display the logbook screen, the handheld glucose meter10may display the logbook screen59shown inFIG. 6D.

FIG. 6Ddepicts an example logbook screen59. The logbook screen59displays a current blood glucose measurement (132 mg/dL) and three preceding blood glucose measurements (75 mg/dL, 65 mg/dL and 85 mg/dL). The current blood glucose measurement has been highlighted to indicate that the current blood glucose measurement is the most recent blood glucose measurement.

Rather than sending blood glucose measurements in a batch manner, the handheld glucose meter10may be configured to transmit blood glucose measurements individually as shown inFIG. 7. The blood glucose measurements may be transmitted, for example to a mobile phone (e.g. the mobile phone18) or some other portable computing device carried by the user. Because the mobile phone is typically in close proximity to the user, it may be used as a data collector for the patient's blood glucose measurements. A diabetes management application16residing on the mobile phone18can then be used for data analysis as well as other sophisticated diabetes management functions. Consequently, the processing power and memory available on the handheld glucose meter10can be streamlined, thereby reducing the cost of the handheld glucose meter10.

Upon determining a blood glucose measurement at71, the blood glucose measurement is first tagged at72with identifying information. Identifying information may include but is not limited to a name of the patient to which the measurement pertains to, a timestamp for when the measurement was taken, a serial number for the handheld glucose meter10and other information pertaining to the test strip. Each blood glucose measurement may be tagged with a unique sequence number assigned by the handheld glucose meter10. In one embodiment, a counter is incremented each time a glucose measurement is taken and the value of the counter is assigned to the blood glucose measurement. The sequence number may be used to retrieve missing data from the handheld glucose meter10as is further described below. Once tagged, the blood glucose measurement is stored at73in a memory of the handheld glucose meter10and is displayed to the user at74on the display11of the handheld glucose meter10.

Next, the handheld glucose meter10determines at75whether it is paired via a wireless data link with another device, such as mobile phone18. The current blood glucose measurement is transmitted at76to the mobile phone18when the handheld glucose meter10is paired with the mobile phone18. In one embodiment, the blood glucose measurement is transmitted automatically and without user intervention. In another embodiment, the blood glucose measurement is transmitted automatically in response to the user navigating away from the measurement result screen, for example by depressing the back button15on the handheld glucose meter10. It is envisioned that the mobile phone18and/or the diabetes management application16is authenticated with the handheld glucose meter10during the pairing process.

In addition to transmitting the blood glucose measurement, the handheld glucose meter10can synchronize its time with the mobile phone18. During initial setup or thereafter, the handheld glucose meter10may be configured by the user, using either the handheld glucose meter10or the mobile phone18, to synchronize its clock with the mobile phone18. By enabling this time synchronization feature, the user is designating the mobile phone18as the master device. Current time on the mobile phone18is transmitted to the handheld glucose meter10during each data exchange. Because a user is interacting frequently with their mobile phone18, the time reported by the mobile phone18is likely to be accurate. The handheld glucose meter10will compare the current time on the mobile phone18to the current time maintained by the handheld glucose meter10as indicated at77. If the time synchronization feature has been enabled by the user and the difference between the two clocks exceeds a variance (e.g., 2 minutes), the handheld glucose meter10will set its clock to the current time of the mobile phone18as indicated at78. Conversely, the handheld glucose meter10may retain its current time if time synchronization feature has not been enabled or the difference between the two clocks is less than the variance threshold. In an alternative embodiment, the handheld glucose meter10will set its clock to the current time of the mobile phone18if the difference between the two clocks is less than the variance threshold and the time synchronization feature is enabled. It is envisioned that other parameters, such as date/time format, target glucose ranges, hypo waning levels, etc., can also be synchronized between the two devices.

During each data exchange, the handheld glucose meter10may also receive a request for missing glucose measurements at79from the diabetes management application16. In one embodiment, the request identifies any missing glucose measurement by its sequence number. In response to receiving a request, the handheld glucose meter10transmits the missing glucose measures at80to the diabetes management application16. It is to be understood that only the relevant steps are discussed in relation toFIG. 7but that other software-implemented instructions may be needed to transmit data from the handheld glucose meter10. In an exemplary embodiment, the method described above is implemented by a user interface module residing on the handheld glucose meter10.

FIG. 8depicts an example method for processing glucose measurements received by the diabetes management application16residing on the mobile phone18. In this example embodiment, glucose measurements are transmitted individually to the diabetes management application16as described in relation toFIG. 7. It is envisioned that other techniques for transmitting the glucose measurement to the diabetes management application16are contemplated by this disclosure.

Upon receiving a glucose measurement at81, a sequence number associated with the glucose measurement is first determined by the diabetes management application16. A unique sequence number is assigned by the handheld glucose meter10to each glucose measurement as described above. Thus, the sequence number associated with the glucose measurement can be extracted at82from the data packet or message received from the handheld glucose meter10. In some embodiments, a series of glucose measurements previously received from the handheld glucose meter10, along with their associated sequence numbers, may be stored in a memory device and thus accessible to the diabetes management application16. In other embodiments, only the most recently received glucose measurement and its sequence number is stored by the diabetes management application16. In either case, the stored glucose measurement(s) along with associated sequence number(s) are retrieved from memory at83.

A comparison is made at84between the sequence number extracted from the present glucose measurement and the sequence numbers of the stored glucose measurements. A request for missing glucose measurements is transmitted by the diabetes management application16to the handheld glucose meter10when an omission in the sequence is detected at85. For example, a request for missing glucose measurements is transmitted at86when the extracted sequence number is74and the highest stored sequence number is either71or72. Conversely, a request is not transmitted when the extracted sequence number is74and the highest stored sequence number is73. Because this comparison is made for each glucose measurement received by the diabetes management application16, a comparison of the extracted sequence number only needs to be made to the highest stored sequence number. In other embodiments, the diabetes management application16may analyze the series of glucose measurements for omitted measures and send a request for each glucose measurement missing from the series of glucose measurements.

Even when a glucose measurement is not received, the diabetes management application16can check for omitted glucose measurements as indicated at81. As noted above, the diabetes management application16can analyze the series of glucose measurements for omitted measurements and send a request at86for each glucose measurement missing from the series of glucose measurements. It is to be understood that only the relevant steps are discussed in relation toFIG. 8but that other software-implemented instructions may be performed by the diabetes management application16.

In an example embodiment, the result screens55,55′,55″ or57and the logbook screen59may be displayed on the mobile phone18. After the diabetes management application16receives a current blood glucose measurement at81, the diabetes management application16may display the result screen55on a display of the mobile phone18. In response to receiving a selection of the indicium58, the diabetes management application16may display the logbook screen59on the display of the mobile phone18. If the mobile phone18includes a touchscreen display, then the indicium58may be selected via the touchscreen display.