A diabetes monitoring system being developed by a University of Ulster Computer Science team could help save lives and have a dramatic impact on the healthcare market, estimated to be worth in excess of £20 billion over the next five years.

Karen Lee from Letterkenny, County Donegal, was awarded a First Class honours degree at this week’s winter graduation ceremonies in the Millennium Forum. Her final year BSc project under the supervision of Dr Joan Condell and Dr Kevin Curran focussed on creating an innovative web-based application to enable diabetics to manage their condition by tracking their blood sugar levels.

"This project was integral to work in the Intelligent Systems Research Centre on estimating correct dosages of insulin on a mobile phone. This has lead to her undertaking doctorate studies at Magee.  She showcased her monitoring system using Google Gears, a new hybrid web-based technology, which allows the user to work seamlessly online and offline, taking care of all synchronisation needed whenever an Internet connection becomes available.

Dr Curran explains that to date the greatest limitation with web-based applications is the need for a constant connection to the Internet.

“With so many people now reliant on web based applications, there is a need to offer end users increased functionality so they can work seamlessly on a desktop or a mobile device which can be accessed anytime, anywhere regardless of Internet connectivity. Google recognises this and are helping to bridge the gap between desktop and web-based applications with Google Gears, which enables offline/online synchronisation of web based applications.”

Highlighting the growing number of people diagnosed being with diabetes, Dr Curran says Karen’s research will be of particular interest to drug companies.

“Experts predict that the number of people globally with diabetes will jump to over 350 million in the next 20 years.  Healthcare is a rapidly evolving information intensive industry and increasingly, mobile computers are used to recall and process large numbers of relevant variables to support information management, general administration, and clinical practice.”  

He predicts that Information Technology will have a dramatic impact on how healthcare is practiced in the future. “Integrating mobile information systems into the practice of healthcare will add value by helping to decrease costs, increase efficiency and enhance patient satisfaction. Mobile computing devices will transform data into valuable information at the point-of-care.

"Web based information technology in direct patient care will take centre stage in healthcare informatics in the 21st century and the web may be the perfect platform for many applications such as remote medical monitoring, home screening tests, telemedicine visits, medication management and patient education.

“Research being carried out in the Intelligent Systems Research Centre on the Magee campus holds great promise for innovative diabetes management applications in a healthcare market which is expected to be worth in excess of £20 billion over the next five years.”

For further information, please contact:

Trina Porter
Telephone: 028 71675511
Email: Trina Porter