BOZEMAN, Mont. - iSense Corportation, Portland, Ore., today announced it has been awarded a $284,487 grant from the National Medical Technology Testbed, Inc. (NMTB) for development of telemetry (wireless) and telemedicine systems to be used with their current continuous glucose monitoring system. iSense is developing a minimally invasive under-the-skin microsensor to improve the health of patients with diabetes by continuously monitoring and transmitting glucose levels to a wearable receiver.

iSense is collaborating with Portland-based health communication company WellMed, Inc. to develop an Internet-based system to transfer results from the glucose sensor receiver to the diabetologist responsible for monitoring the patient.

NMTB, located at the Loma Linda University Medical Center (LLUMC), Loma Linda, Calif., is a Department of Defense contractor that identifies and provides federal funding for new medical technology with potential for commercialization. The Montana State University TechLink Center in Bozeman, Montana, identified the resource and helped iSense in the preparation of its successful application for NMTB funding.

Under the NMTB-funded program, iSense will conduct 5-day clinical trials with 10 insulin-treated subjects with diabetes fitted with prototype under-the-skin glucose sensors that have transmission and receiving capability. The sensor software and Internet-based system will provide secure, concise, daily, electronic information transfer between patient and diabetologist. The Internet Ðbased system will also allow the diabetologist to send written treatment instructions back to the patient's computer, cell phone or other wireless devices.

The clinical trials are designed to demonstrate the effectiveness of the iSense sensor in improving the ability of the patient and diabetologist to track critical glucose levels. The data and results will be compared to current monitoring methods that allow only snapshots of glucose concentration.

The frequency of diabetic complications (blindness, kidney failure, and limb amputations) increases with hyperglycemia. The ability to monitor glucose continuously with telemetry is expected to reduce incidence of hyperglycemia and greatly minimize the potential for complications. Commercialization of the sensor, including FDA approvals, is expected to take at least two years.

Diabetes is a long-term, progressive disease with no known cure. It extracts a significant toll both on those who experience the condition as well as on health care systems and global economies. In the United States, diabetes mellitus is the fourth leading cause of death by disease. The health care system costs related to diabetes exceed $100 billion per year and the costs to the economy in lost work are even greater. The World Health Organization and the U.S. Center for Disease Control have expressed alarm at the rapid increase in diabetes throughout the world.

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