A plan to convert a public park into an interactive gaming center to address a county’s soaring diabetes problem led to the development of a blood glucose tracking system, one of five proposals under consideration for the Sanofi US Data Design Diabetes Innovation Challenge.
Jim Stritzinger began his company EnduringFX in January to tackle Richland County, South Carolina’s poor health record. Diabetes cost the county $4 billion in emergency room visits, much of it from the 29203 zip code, according to stats from the 29203 Community Empowerment Coalition to Prevent Diabetes and Diabetes Complications. His company is in the process of implementing digital interactive tools that can make Columbia, South Carolina’s Riverfront Park and Drew Wellness Center social gaming forums with the goal of making people feel engaged in playing a game as much as they are improving their health.
The idea that led to the company’s participation in the innovation challenge came from Stritzinger’s friend and business collaborator. Urban design architect Michael Frederick, who has type 1 diabetes, noticed in his cycling workouts that whenever he hit a hill going up a bridge that his heart rate would fall instead of increase and would be followed by the onset of a low blood glucose level. After a while, he picked up on the correlation. That set in motion the development of a feedback system using heart rate to improve blood glucose control.
Stritzinger says he is trying to totally change the experience of going to an outdoor public park to make it more engaging and interactive. By making RFID chips available for people to attach to their shoelaces that can communicate with RFID chips installed in signs around the park, users will be able to get information on their heart rates and track their performances. They will also be rewarded for working out and receive encouraging messages if they are outperforming earlier workouts. Their speeds and distances will be tracked to keep score of who runs the fastest and farthest.
He is also setting up a Microsoft Kinect motion-sensing input device on a park wall that will read users’ faces and skeletal structures, and display their workout histories.
Blue Cross Blue Shield has been following Stritzinger’s progress and is said to be interested in using Medicaid funds to purchase RFID chips to enable large numbers of people to participate.
The revenue stream would come from park sponsorship enlisting private sponsors for mile markers in the park. Stritzinger is also setting up an annual subscription plan for users to access their data on the company’s website.
A Deep-dive Into Specialty Pharma
A specialty drug is a class of prescription medications used to treat complex, chronic or rare medical conditions. Although this classification was originally intended to define the treatment of rare, also termed “orphan” diseases, affecting fewer than 200,000 people in the US, more recently, specialty drugs have emerged as the cornerstone of treatment for chronic and complex diseases such as cancer, autoimmune conditions, diabetes, hepatitis C, and HIV/AIDS.
The Sanofi US’s (NYSE:SNY) innovation challenge Demo Day is scheduled for May 16 in New York City.
