"We have the ability to protect the array of individual reservoirs of glucose sensors to extend life," Pax says.

But the platform does have kinks to iron out if it's to surpass finger-prick tests as the monitor of choice for those with diabetes. For now, the FDA recommends continuous monitoring devices only for supplementary use, as they want more data showing effectiveness.


And in the NEJM study, the benefits were mainly seen in adults over 25.

"Teenagers are the most sensitive to having anyone know they have this condition," Pax says. "They did have a harder time, because in general, they're having difficulty taking on the adult responsibility."

But she hopes the future device will be discreet and comfortable enough that it could even find favor among teenagers. One strategy they plan to use is wireless relays, where the device would send glucose alerts or information directly to the patient's mobile phone, so they wouldn't have to draw attention checking a medical device.

"The type 1 population just need things that are easier to use, more reliable and require as few interventions and give you as much data as possible," she says.

SAME TECHNOLOGY, DIFFERENT PROBLEM

The technology behind the glucose monitor could also help those ailing with another chronic condition: osteoporosis.

"What we're doing in that application, is taking the same technology platform, this array of reservoirs, but instead of putting a glucose sensor into each reservoir, we're putting a dose of a very effective bone-building drug, parathyroid hormone," Pax says.

The reason patients might adopt the technology is that compliance rates for using the anabolic bone-building hormone - which has to be kept refrigerated and then injected - are extremely low. Most patients, who are usually otherwise healthy, are apparently often reluctant to follow a tedious regimen of injections when there appears to be nothing wrong with them.

"In the published reports, [compliance is] anywhere from between 25 and 50 percent with most osteoporosis medication, including pills, which are much easier to take," Pax says.

The challenge for MicroCHIPS in creating the continuously-dosing device is keeping the drug stable without refrigeration, and getting the large molecules to pass through the delivery mechanism.

Pax says they have published studies showing they can use their multiple-array system to deliver another large particle, called glucolide, so she's optimistic the product will work. MicroCHIPS is also working to create a novel formulation of the drug that will still hold together at warmer temperatures.

More Voices