Project Overview

 

The HypoMon is the world's first non-invasive alarm system that identifies sleep-time hypoglycaemia (hypos) in children and adolescents with type 1 diabetes. When monitoring and alerting to hypoglycaemia during sleep, the HypoMon is more accurate, comfortable and affordable than any other system on the market. HypoMon assures a safer, more comfortable night's sleep for all.

Project Commissioner

AImedics

Project Creator

Design + Industry
Designers
Design + Industry

Project Team

AImedics
Design + Industry

Website

Project Brief

Symptoms of hypoglycaemia can be easily recognised when people are awake, however during the night when they are sleeping, they are 55% more likely to have an occurrence. AiMedics saw a need to develop a device that could accurately identify sleep-time hypoglycaemia events during this high risk rest period. The system had to be affordable, easy to use, comfortable, and simpler for the carer to monitor the patient.

Project Innovation / Need

- Accurate detection and alert of sleep-time hypo
Before the HypoMon parents and carers needed to wake their children throughout the night to check glucose levels with an invasive blood prick test. This was highly disruptive for both the child and the carer because they could not receive a full night's sleep.

- Non-invasive and comfortable
The HypoMon does not require any component to be implanted or inserted into the body, it is a totally non-invasive device and a world first.

The HypoMon Belt, worn comfortably around the upper chest, contains a compact-sized, needle-free transmitter. The sensors communicate wirelessly with the HypoMon Monitor, logging the body's physiological signals, including heart rate during sleep.

When hypoglycaemia occurs, it triggers the body’s autonomic nervous system responses – or early warning symptoms. HypoMon® technology detects these symptoms and an alarm on the Monitor activates while the user sleeps, alerting the patient and carer.

- Simple and easy to use
The HypoMon Belt with Sensor and Transmitter is easy to fasten to the body and comfortable to wear during sleep. Once the user's pre-sleep blood glucose level is entered on the screen, the HypoMon will monitor their physiological changes for symptoms of hypoglycaemia until they finish resting.

Design Challenge

Affordability, comfort and safety were paramount to the success of the design.

The HypoMon wrap-around Belt with Sensors went through many design iterations and rigorous testing to ensure it was comfortable to wear whilst securing the transmitter in place even through movement during sleep.

The HypoMon has three specific alarms to ensure the system is functioning correctly. There is an alarm to ensure the belt sensor is correctly fitted and receiving data, there is also an alarm to notify the user the transmitter is too far away from the monitor, and lastly and most importantly the Hypo alarm. Comprehensive clinical trials at a leading Australian children’s hospital has shown that the HypoMon accurately identifies more sleep-time hypoglycemia than any continuous monitoring systems currently available.

Sustainability

AIMEDICS provides non-invasive products and recognises the critical interdependence between human health and the environment. For this reason, we believe that it is important to promote the sustainable use of natural resources, the conservation of energy, the reduction of waste and the mitigation of climate change impact throughout the organisation.

- Due to its non-invasive aspect, there are no bio-hazardous waste compared to substitute products.
- All materials are RoHS compliant and recyclable.
- The consumables (sensors) used exhibit long life.
There is a reduction in total packaging, freight and distribution requirement which provides a lower/no wastage and carbon footprint.

Link to videoclip:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vkUnrOWFQo8