Amy Tenderich writes one of (if not the) most influential blogs about diabetes, Diabetes Mine. Noting the news today about Apple selling its 100 millionth iPod and praising the exceptional industrial design of Apple products, she asks for Apple’s help in designing better medical devices. She points out blood glucose monitors and insulin pumps in particular (recent model insulin pump pictured above next to iPod). See her open letter to Steve Jobs here.
In the letter she notes that millions of people are tied to their medical devices, and can’t leave their home without them. Unlike the iPod, these devices help keep people with chronic conditions like diabetes alive.
There’s something else these devices do not have in common with the iPod - sensible design and attractive features. Tenderich says “most of these devices are clunky, make weird alarm sounds, are more or less hard to use, and burn quickly through batteries. In other words: their design doesn’t hold a candle to the iPod.”
She isn’t asking for Apple to actually get into the medical device business. Instead, she’s asking Steve Jobs to help jumpstart a little creativity in the space. She has three suggestions:
We have begun by brainstorming a number of actions that you and/or Apple could take to jumpstart this discussion:
* Sponsor a contest by Apple Inc. for best-designed med device from an independent party, and the winning item will receive a makeover from Jonathan Ive himself
* Conduct a “Med Model Challenge”: the Apple design team takes several existing medical devices and demonstrates how to “pimp” them to be more useful and cool
* Establish Apple Med Design School – offer a course on consumer design concepts to selected engineers from leading pharma companies
Frankly, all of these sound brilliant to me, and the press would have an absolute field day praising Apple were they to do any one of them. Apple PR, are you listening?
this sounds like a great idea.
Yeah that’s a good idea for any industrial design group. Apple could get the most attention, but anyone could get some good mileage out of it, and for a decent cause.
I’m a firmware engineer on a blood glucose meter at a very large, well known company. I agree that this is a great idea. I’d be much more excited if our product wasn’t a solid 5 years behind in design for a handheld device. We do have a product coming out in a couple years and the preliminary designs could possibly be the best looking meter I’ve seen to date. Sorry, I can’t disclose anything else about it!
Philips is taking this course and develops sensible medical products. Their motto is Sense & Sensibility. The new stuff they design looks a lot better and not medical at all! They just haven’t been getting a lot of attention for it because people get more enthusiastic about an extra GB in an iPod than a good looking defibrillator.
The problem though is that the iPod is not a developer-friendly platform. If they would push iPod as a proper developer platform then this kind of stuff wouldn’t need their attention - 3rd party ISVs would build it. But that goes against every instinct Apple has.
I agree. As an avid apple fan (and user), an apple designed diabetes meter would go a long way in actually highliting the disease itself and bringing awareness to a lot more people who may not be aware of their diabetic status…
Not to mention how good the meter itself would look!
the only problem would be if someone confuses their IPump with their IPod
This is a wonderful. As a person with Type 1 diabetes I look at the devices on the market and I wonder if they were designed by two MBA while out for a drink.
@Boris: “Sense & Simplicity” actually; it contains the naughty anagram “penis dismays client”.
Dr. Chadblog -
Medical device companies would never spend that much per meter. They basically are just optimizing their measurement technique for low meter cost and battery life. iPod would not help with either of those.
Very good idea… Ease of use is sorely lacking in the med device field. (Never mind the almost complete lack of aesthetic sensibility.)
Just hope your battery in your pump doesn’t die… because you have to ship it to Apple for a replacement.
yeah let Apple do it - good for all
- rb
the failure rate of iPods is very high. you do not want this company making a medical device unless you want to look very cool while you slip into a diabetic coma when it fails…
Thank you guys for picking up this story. As a Type I diabetic and a pump user, I can’t thank you guys enough for putting the spotlight on such an important issue.
Here’s a post I wrote about it:
http://manuelhp42.blogspot.com.....betic.html
Ok, I’ll do it! Thanks for the compelling post Michael. Now, if only I can find a way to sell the glucose measuring strips in the iTunes store.
Yeah!
iGlasses
iTeeth
They’d probably make it so you can’t replace the battery and they will not allow you to get your medical data off of it without using iMed.
Don’t forget to backup your numbers! On a lighter note, as a Mac user I’m always frustrated that my meter’s “tracking progress software” can’t be used on a Mac…
the failure rate of iPods is very high.
Citation, please.
Not a citation for “the failure rate of iPods is very high”, just an anecdotal observation: my iPod is equivalent to a pile of trash right now; my hard drive is toast! They kindly offered me 10% off my next purchase of an iPod if I surrendered it to them at the store.
Not to rain on the parade..but the problem w/the medical industry, despite the billions they rake in and $ spent on research, is that they have little if any incentive to improve design and usability. Theyre looking for bare bones functionality and maximizing profit–everthing else is overhead..
Also, unlike the consumer space, there seems to be very relatively smaller demand and competition..
The problem is that Apple doesn’t have to go through the FDA. If they did, they would be about where insulin pumps are also. It can take literally years for a device to be approved.
iCondom?
I don’t think that anyone is suggesting that we make Apple (as it stands currently) a medical device manufacturer. Only partner them with someone like Johnson & Johnson (aka Animas, the pump I use) and let’s all bask in the glow of great functionality, usability, style and comfort while not being bothered every minute by our disease.
Pumps are getting better all the time. This is a rediculous request imho. Brian - creator http://www.diabuddis.com
http://www.diabuddies.com
Brian - so diabetes bloggers fight with each other too? I would have thought it was a small enough space to avoid personal attacks. People are the same everywhere, I guess.
# Aaron B. Hockley
April 10th, 2007 at 7:13 am
Just hope your battery in your pump doesn’t die… because you have to ship it to Apple for a replacement.
DICK
My ten year old daughter was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes in October of 2006. I am a user experience person by trade. In evaluating the pumps I was surprised at the remarkably unintuitive interfaces that most devices sported. It seems as if the entire space was designed by an aardvark or some other such animal with a similar degree of understanding of human cognition. Eventually we settled on the MiniMed Paradigm Insulin Pump because the interface was the closest of all of the ones that we evaluated to that of the iPod.
It’s interesting that when trying to make the decision ourselves, the iPod was the benchmark that came to mind.
As a former Industrial Designer who tried to get some of these large pharmaceutical companies to improve their design it wouldn’t take the apple design team to make an improvement, but it is still nearly impossible.
FDA takes forever to get through ensuring your product is out of fashion by the time it gets to market. The volume of units is low. Units are subsidized by the price of strips and other parts so the companies want to pay as little as possible for the original unit as possible. There is little competition in the industry, and the companies terrified of risk.
if only it wasn’t so. We’d make sure you all had the super cool devices you deserve.
I don’t have diabetes, but my goddaughter passed away due to complications of juvenile diabetes last October. It would be nice to have something reliable, easy to use, and consumer priced that she could have used, instead of relying on injections — and not waking up one morning.
I am deathly afraid of needles, a common phobia. I had to get a cardiac catheterization a few years ago, and went through a few months of biofeedback training to prepare for it. The tools were an expensive software program in my PC and a fingertip sensor that plugged into a serial port. This January, I needed spinal surgery, and a refresher on that biofeedback training. But my current machine doesn’t have a serial port, and a USB dongle wouldn’t work with the sensor. An upgrade to a USB version of the software and sensor would cost hundreds of dollars — or I could get a new device.
It was a small, iPod-sized, self-contained biofeedback unit, with built-in lithium-ion battery, integral sensor, LED displays, and audible feedback tones. It came with an earclip sensor when you wanted to use it hands-free, a charger, and a leather case. It cost a little over a hundred dollars, a fraction of the cost of my original system. It weighed a few ounces, and came in several pretty colors. I bought the blue anodized aluminum model, very attractive. I spent several weeks using it to relearn my biofeedback skills, and got through my surgery with a minimum of stress.
Check out emwave.com to see the device. If insulin pumps could be designed as well as this device, they would be magnificent.
I use a Glucose meter 6-8 times a day, and also sync my meter with software on the PC (for tracking purposes - watching for trends in the glucose numbers). You should see the visual output this software produces. Graphs and charts from decades gone by. I’m talking UGLY! Functional, yes, but why do we have to settle for less than outstanding? (oh, right, “It’s good enough for the average diabetic”.)
I would LOVE to be able to sync it with my MAC, and then have the ability to easily upload that data to my Endocrinologist. Think Keynote-type quality output. (an optional extension to iTunes?)
Would this make me any healthier? Not by itself. But here’s my thought. If making the user experience more friendly, and as a result makes me want to take readings that many more times a day, then yes, it just might lead to better control, and overall contribute to better health and a longer, more enjoyable, productive life. Apple could definitely help with this. I’m also thinking of the new 24 hour “constant” monitors. Currently, many insurance companies consider these to be “experimental”, and as a result, do not cover them on many plans. If nothing else, having Apple take part (take the lead), etc. in this effort, just might bring about public awareness. There is a cost to being diabetic. (Monetarily, as well as health-wise) We all share in this together to some extent. The healthier I am, the less medication I need, and the lower the cost for all of us with regard to insurance and medical costs. Unfortunately, my health, or lack of it, in a small way contributes to the cost of health care and insurance for others.
Sure, it may just be a small design issue, but in my daily fight to take personal responsibility for my illness and all that comes with it, every little bit helps.
Steve had his own experience with a rare Pancreatic Cancer not too long ago. Fortunately, his cancer was treatable, and as far as we know, his cancer is completely gone. Awesome! I too await that day!
As a diabetic and a blogger, (and an iPod owner) I think Amy is spot on. I wrote about the need for better device integration in 2001, and I’ve blogged a response to her Open Letter.
The other side of Usability and User Experience is better Data Protocols and a Sync/Download story - again, we can look to the iPod for leadership -> So, where’s iTunes for Diabetes?
http://www.hanselman.com/blog/.....nIPod.aspx
WOW…totally relevant for today as I just picked up my first insulin pump. I’ve had type 1 for almost a year now. The pump is a great thing…it’s going to completely enhance my lifestyle.
However, I do agree that this thing is way behind the curve. I work w/ embedded technology (ie algorithms for phones, STB’s) and its obvious to me how far pumps are behind the rest of the mobile device field. And considering insulin pumps cost over $5000, they should be way better than they are. Again, I’m thankful that I only have take one shot every 3 days instead of 4-5 shots A DAY. But they must get better in UI, functionality and in size.
The biggest problem I have found with pumps that I have used (Disetronic H-Tron, D-Tron+, and the new Accuchek Spirit) is the menu structure and the onboard controls (ok, that’s two problems, but stick with me…). To get a temporary reduction in the amount of insulin you are deivering, you will need to push one button 6 or so times, then another button several times depending on the size of the reduction, then another button. An iPod-like interface would make this a wheel-to-menu-item -> push button -> wheel-to-percentage –> push button. Simpler.
However, in practice, you push those buttons blindly in most cases to do the simple stuff. To get a unit of insulin, for instance, I’d press one button and hold, then another button twice. And I wouldn’t have to actually look at the device at all. Simpler than wheel-to-menu-item, press button, wheel-to-amount, press button. Arguably.
I just (literally, yesterday evening) started using the OmniPod system from Insulet. It divorces the control mechanism from the insulin pumping mechanism, which leaves you with a handheld gadget that controls the delivery of the insulin, and features, among other things, a hierarchical menu system with commonly used items on the top level. It requires you to actually look at the device to deliver insulin or change delivery options, but the interface is intuitive enough to make common tasks easy, if not as fast as a touch-only interface.
To Brian -
How can you call this “rediculous” (sic) when it is generating so much amazing discussion and attention for our diabetic needs?
Hey, if comment #16 is geniune, the Diabetes Community should be doing a freakin’ happy dance right now!
The primary focus of the insulin pump and glucose meter is to help treat a disease by being reliable, accurate, and precise. In fact, these devices are becoming smaller, easier to use, and more appealing, but lag behind in current styling because the designs on the market are a number of years old due to extensive testing and federal regulations (which is a good thing). It seems like time would be better spent lobbying to the drug companies that create these devices to improve their designs, rather than reaching out to Steve Jobs. Do you think that Steve Jobs and Apple really want that kind of liability anyways?
Speaking of design, there is a physical limit on how small an insulin pump can get because there is a specific amount of insulin needed to treat diabetes. It is ridiculous to think that an insulin pump can be the size of a nano. Also, the pump that I am familiar with (Medtronic MiniMed) can go at least 6 weeks with a single AA battery, which easily blows the battery life of an ipod out of the water.
I’m not trying to be a complete pessimist either though. Do I think that medical devices could be better? Yes. Should we ask Steve Jobs to design these devices? No. Let Apple do what they’re good at and the drug companies do what they’re good at (in both cases, robbing us blind). My suggestion is to try working with Steve Jobs the philanthropist, not the designer.
#36 Amy: I’m assuming that that is NOT the real Steve Jobs. He wouldn’t choose a blog to announce this and certainly wouldn’t joke around like that in something like this. This would have to go through so many levels at Apple. Just because Jobs is “in charge” doesn’t mean he could make a decision like this after reading a couple of blogs. If they ran the company like that it would go down the tubes.
The test of the glucose monitoring machine is in its efficiency in reading the levels and being less painful to the patient…
the writer is giving undue importance to external features like look and feel…
does it mean that if the glucose monitor were looking that good….the patient would flaunt it around like and ipod…
some design would help..but we have to ensure that the research funds are not spent on external look and feel to make it look more jazzy but should be spent on making it more efficient
As I mentioned in my comment to Amy’s post, the diabetes device people have got the problems of Functionality and Reliability solved. But now they need to move on to better things.
In my review of some diabetes software that I got for the first time today, I can’t find much good to say about it.
One problem I see here is that the market for these devices is small. But I know there are folks with diabetes who have the smarts to do this type of work. Now all we need to do is pressure the device makers to recognize the importance of making it happen.
And if Apple did contribute a design, it would only be a matter of hours before someone hacked it to work with Linux. Go register AppleDiabetesHacks.com today!
I’ve been a diabetic for 21 years now, long enough to know how far the field has come in the last couple of decades, and also how little it’s come. My biggest problem right now is that the makers of Lantus insulin (I think that’s Aventis) make cheap crappy bottles that break wide open if you so much as drop them an inch. My Lilly insulin bottles are thick glass jobbers.
But an Apple-designed insulin pump might just get me to reconsider all these needles.
I’m a development engineer and I developed one of the available insulin pumps currently on the market. I totally agree about the design issue. However, when it comes to compare the devices with the iPod, the situation becomes much more complicated.
From a consumer perspective, design is certainly an important factor, but functionality is even more important (besides the emotional and social factors that should be addressed). If the design is super cool but it’s not very pracitcal then it’s not fun anymore.
From an engineering perspective, there are other factors that are even more important than design such as functionality, reliablity and safety. Furthermore there is a jungle of regulations and standards to navigate through - obstacles that must be considered. As engineers, we are responsilbe to provide a device that is supposed to last for years, 24/7 - you can take it for a swim, drop it on concrete, expose it to body odor and other chemicals and so on. The iPod would probably not survive the first 10% of the tests done with the insulin pump.
There are fancy technologies out there that enable to design the device in the shape of a credit card - but these technologies are either not mature enough, way to expensive or just impossible for mass manufacutring - just to give you some reasons why it’s so difficult to come up with a more convenient and sleeker design.
Another important point is that Apples’ success isn’t all about the design - it’s about several jobs that are addressed (e.g. listen to musig, share music, manage music library, etc.). Too many companies are focused on the design aspect and forget about the main purpose of the device or service.
But there are many ways to help improving the diabetic’s live. We’re dedicated to continue working on it.
It is not just diabetes.
Compare the development of prams (strollers) to those of wheelchairs, in terms of comfort for the person in it, and the person pushing it. A world of difference. Most of the comments re the insulin pump do not apply. So the reason for the disparity lies somewhere else. Marketing clout? Buying considerations? Mindset? I don’t know
During a recent ADA sponsored event, I cornered LifeScan and FreeStyle reps about the lack of tech. I stressed that I, as a 5-7 strip consumer, wanted more tech in my meter or even offering those features in an upscaled model. After trying to use the UltraSmart, I was floored at how slow it was to add details. In the age of iPods and immediate access, lag response time is a huge deal. When I upgraded to the Ultra 2 from the Ultra 1, I discovered that the device’s bootup time was a few seconds longer. So I kept adding samples too early — thus tossing the strip.
FreeStyle used to offer a special Handspring Tracker which allowed you to test on a PDA. With modern PDAs like the popular Treo and SD slot, why not offer something that’s small and utilizes tech that you use all the time. If you’re a professional, why not use your Treo or Blackberry to test your BS and store it for later use (or text it to your doc). Or if you have an iPod, testing your sugar there and uploading it to iTunes in some way to track. Or even a Nintendo DS?
I emailed the idea to TheraSense/Freestyle/Abbott and they said that there was nothing in the works.
While pumps are the wave of the future, there are still many of us pen-pushers who really want realistic, cost-effective solutions that utilize things we use every day. Make it better in a meaningful way and people will come to the product. Merely changing the screen size and form factor really doesn’t constitute “new”.
And yes, I really want an OmniPod. I just wish that all that software could also show up on my Treo along with the the freestyle meter. Do that and I’d buy it!
they should make a pump that plays mp3s
If microsoft did this, people would see it as a wolf trying to wear sheep’s clothing. But I do think that if apple did it nobody would laud it as strategic move.
Not iPod - iPhone.
UI is programmed.
Bluetooth to something like omnipod
only thing missing is a place to insert test strips and, of course, the integration software.
– If Microsoft did it I wouldn’t trust my health to it. Viruses can kill.