A new medical technology which is expected to benefit 60 lakh diabetic patients in Tamil Nadu has been launched in a Scan Centre in Chennai.

The state-of-the-art technology is known as Continuous Glucose Monitoring Systems [CGMS], whose 4th generation device, iPro2, is now available in all the five branches of the scan centre for monitoring diabetes.

A study conducted by specialized medical institutions on diabetic research says that there are over sixty lakh people in the state affected with diabetes which is expected to increase by 170 per cent by 2025. The most modern device with CGM Systems helps a diabetic patient to understand how his/her blood sugar is changing throughout the day.

According to experts in the field, blood sugar (blood glucose) of a diabetic patient changes every minute of the day causing complications like blindness, heart attack, kidney failure, paralysis and leg amputation. While treating the disease, it is critical to keep the patient’s blood sugar as close to the normal range as possible at all times. The latest CGMS is an answer to this problem, said the doctors in the Aarthi Scans which has introduced the technology first time in Tamil Nadu.

Dr J S Kumar, Diabetology-in-charge, SRM Medical College, Chennai, who is using the device in the scan centre for his patients said the device is used in more than 49 countries to detect variations of blood sugar every 5 minutes for diabetes management.

According to him, a CGMS can help a diabetic patient to become aware of his/her glucose levels and how they change based on food, exercise, and medication as the device shows sugar readings every 5 minutes. Almost 300 such readings will be recorded in a day while patient is doing routine activities like office work, exercise, travelling, swimming, sleeping etc. The test is extremely useful for diabetic patients planning pregnancy. Further, the test will help patients feel more confident about the way they are managing their diabetes.

The doctors in the scan centre claim that the 4th generation iPro 2 Professional CGM system is valuable for detecting high and low glucose fluctuations that can lead to dangerous health complications, which often go undetected with traditional tests.