Electronics > Projects, Designs, and Technical Stuff
Diabetes 1 scale product/project easy carbohydrate calculator
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matsv201:
My son is 8 years old and have diabetes 1 (and autism as well). One issue with diabetes 1 is that there is a lot of Math involved in handling it, and its very common with children that is to young to handle the math. So most children with diabetes 1 under the age of 12-14 need constant adult supervision handling the diabetes. And even at that, some of the math is to hard for adults with low math skill.

Here is the formula to calculate the amount of insulin (European style)

Insulin = Round (0.5; (BG-5)/CV + (FoodA*FACV+FoodB*FBCV+FoodC*FCBCV...... FoodX*FXCV)/FoodCV))

BG = blod glucose level (mmol/L)
CV = Correction value (varies over time)
FoodX = A set type of food
FXCV = corection value for food X, every type of food have a value.
FoodCV = Individual correction value for food
(those shorts are different for different regions)


This is how it calculated with a normal insulin pen. Worth noting that some parrents with low math skill need to stay at the hospital for weeks just to learn the math.

There is a device called a insulin pump. It generally calculate the (BG-5)/CV part as well as the general total sum of food/foodCV.

But that still leves the:
FoodA*FACV+FoodB*FBCV+FoodC*FCBCV...... FoodX*FXCV
And this is kind of the hardest part, because it also needs a reference checkup table.

This is done by weighting the food and multiplying it with value of each food, then adding it to the next one. Worse of, this is a decimal value, so for people that is low math skill, generally really have a problem with this part.

Example dinner
Boiled potatoes: 100g*0,25=25g
Meet balls: 50g*0,08=4g
ligonberry jam: 20g*0,4=8g
Skimmed milk: 200g*0,05=10g
Cocco poweder: 10g *0,8=8g
55g

So what is needed for pretty much all people with diabetes 1 is a scale that does this calculation for them. Anyone how think this math is easy.. try to get a 8 year old to learn it. And it have to be correct every single time.

So i was thinking of a solution to this problem. A special scale for people with diabetes.

The scale will ned the following parts.
2 or 3 row digital digit read out
A analog nob that goes from 0 to 100% (or from 0 to 1) in increments of 1% (or 0.01)
A Tar button (that also clears the buffert)
A Add button, that ad to previews value and also tars the scale (but not clearing the buffert)

Possible adon, a register for food

First question... is anyone aware of a product that already exist that does this.

Second... if it not exist. Is there any resonable easy way to modify a existing scale to do this

Thirdly... is there anyone here with diabetes or a child with diabetes that is interesting of the project.... I would do i my self... but well i have two children with autism and one with diabetes.


doktor pyta:
Welcome.

Sounds like good place to use / write an app for a smartphone.
Will the child accept this method... there's no better way than try.
First result from google: https://www.healthline.com/health/diabetes/top-iphone-android-apps
Seems to be a lot of free stuff.
Designing such a device from scratch would be expensive.

Best Regards
matsv201:
Using a phone ap is really not a great solution. There is quite a bit of number juggling and searching. In short. the phone aps really don´t work well.

Worth noting, the insulin pump already do some of the heavy lifting. But there is already a lot of number moving around

There is one additional reason why i want it built into a scale. A scale is needed anyway. So building it into a scale would just remove this step.

Specially for children (And also to some extent older adults), its really hard to find the right food in a app. So really a app is not a good alternative.

Worth noting that there are some other reasons to have a special scale. Most scales that is available to buy is not made for diabetes. They are made for cocking. This make them include other features that in manycases is pretty buggy. Also a lot of scales nowdays dont have hardware swich between lb and g. This does happen that a scale move over to lb with out it being obvious, that is rather dangerus
SparkyFX:
There is also time of day, the type and grade of insulin used (slow baseline or bolus), the actual carbohydrate content of the ingredient (e.g. not all potatoes/apples/pasta are similar, as water content might vary drastically with storage), the physical fitness (excercise, other coincidental illnesses: like a cold, diarreah) that heavily influence the amount needed.

Too hot to handle. Really.
matsv201:
I think you might missed the point. I´m not trying to do anything with insulin. Only calculating the food in a easier way. For the insulin, that stuff is already handled by the insulin pump. That really don´t need to be improved (at least not this way)

I´m only looking to improve the way the carbohydrate value for food is calculated.

That the amount of Carbohydrates varies from one pasta to a other, is a problem regardless how its calculated. The variation can actually be mitigated with this way of calculating it, allowing for a sweetspot and range.

Note, i´m not trying to calculate the insulin level. That is done by the medical certified equipment already in use. I´m trying to calculate the value for the food that is eaten. And yes, there is apps that does that to day, but they hardly help because all the values need to be transferred anyway, pretty much making all apps hardly any better than hand calculating.
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