The Importance of Patient and Family Engagement, the Needs for Self-Monitoring of Blood Glucose (SMBG) – Our Perspectives Learned Through a Story of SMBG Assistive Devices Made by a Husband of the Patient with Diabetes

Figures & data

Figure 1 Existing SMBG assistive devices that patients were unable to utilize. (A) SMBG assist devices that are no longer in use, but were once provided by Sanwa Kagaku Kenkyusho Co.; two escort guides made of plastic and tape, a congested rubber band (Sanwa Kagaku Kenkyusho Co., Nagoya, Aichi, Japan). (B and C) Several SMBG assistive devices created by TERUMO CORPORATION; plastic escort guides and rings to congest the fingers (TERUMO CORPORATION, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo, Japan).

Figure 2 SMBG assistive device created by the patient’s husband. (A) The first SMBG assistive device was made of wood by the manufacturer, the patient’s husband. (B) The second SMBG assistive device was made of ABS resin with an antibacterial effect by the patient’s husband. (C) The third SMBG assistive device was also made of ABS resin with an antibacterial effect by the patient’s husband. (D) After (C), the SMBG assistive device made of ABS (acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene resin) resin with an antibacterial effect continued to improve, and various types and sizes of SMBG assistive devices were made.

Figure 3 Part of the prototype created by the patient’s husband. These are some of the more than 200 prototypes created by the patient’s husband in response to a request from a medical device company that was in the process of producing an SMBG assistive device.

Figure 4 SMBG assistive device supplied as an accessory. This is the SMBG assistive device that, after a number of prototypes, is currently being provided to patients who wish to have it as an accessory to SMBG (Roche DC Japan K.K., Minatoku, Tokyo, Japan).