Medtronic Glucose Monitor Gets Euro Approval

Medical-device maker Medtronic announced Tuesday that its Guardian Connect mobile glucose monitoring system received European Union approval and is slated for sale in 2017. Medtronic is headquaratered in Dublin, Ireland, but its diabetes unit is in Northridge. Used by diabetics who take insulin injections, Guardian Connect consists of a small continuous glucose monitor that takes glucose readings every five minutes and sends that data directly to the system’s mobile app. With the app, patients are able to check glucose levels, be alerted of blood-sugar irregularities and upload data into CareLink, Medtronic’s therapy management software. “Having continuous, real-time access to glucose values and being alerted to important trends and events is key for people with diabetes,” Annette Brüls, Medtronic’s president of diabetes service and solutions, said in a statement. “With our new Guardian Connect system, we’ve continued to innovate so we can deliver these insights for people with diabetes on insulin injection therapy.” The Guardian Connect app will be available for iOS devices as the company is currently developing an Android app for a later release date. The system will launch throughout Europe, Asia Pacific and Latin America on a country-by-country basis sometime in the second quarter of 2017 and is not available in the United States at this time.