Bayer Diabetes Care has introduced Didget blood glucose monitoring system in the US. The Didget meter connects directly to Nintendo DS and DS Lite gaming systems to help kids manage a lifelong disease by rewarding them for building consistent testing habits and meeting personalized blood glucose target ranges.
Bayer said that its Didget meter links play with purpose for children with diabetes by tapping into kids’ existing passion for handheld gaming. The Didget meter positively reinforces consistent blood glucose testing habits by awarding points that kids can use to unlock new game levels and customize their gaming experience.
Bayer’s Didget meter is intended for use by kids ages 4-14 and grows with the child’s ability to manage their diabetes, offering two testing levels, Basic and Advanced. The Didget meter will connect to Bayer’s Didget World, a password-protected Web community, where kids can spend points that they earn from consistent monitoring practices and create their own page.
The Didget meter is based on Bayer’s Contour system and uses the same technology and Contour test strips, providing the same easy accuracy, No Coding technology, no interference with maltose, galactose and oxygen and automatic correction for hematocrit and many common interfering substances. Contour test strips also feature under fill detection and automatic control solution marking as well as a 5-second test time and small (0.6ml) sample size.
Nick Jonas of The Jonas Brothers, a paid spokesperson and an actual user of Bayer’s Contour USB meter, said: “I know first hand how important it is for kids to test their blood sugar regularly. Using Bayer’s Didget meter is a cool and fun way for kids to do that. The Didget meter uses the same test strips as the Contour meter, the strips I rely on every day.”
Larry Deeb, pediatric endocrinologist and medical director for the Diabetes Center at Tallahassee Memorial Hospital in Florida and a paid consultant for Bayer, said: “As the first meter truly designed with kids in mind, the Didget meter can transform a child’s blood sugar testing experience from something they have to do into something they want to do.
“Regular blood sugar testing is critical for diabetes management and one of the biggest challenges facing parents of kids with diabetes is motivating their kids to develop good testing habits. Bayer’s Didget meter adds an element of fun and rewards to the routine of testing and, by doing so, helps ease that parent/child tension that testing often creates.”