Health Tech of the Week: Daily glycemia control, reimagined. DiabScale changes the game

Managing diabetes is a daily challenge that demands not only medical precision but also technological support. In this edition of Healthtech of the Week, we present DiabScale – a modern application developed by a team uniquely combining patient experience with IT expertise, setting a new standard in digital diabetic care. With features supporting insulin dose calculations, glycemia analysis, and personalized dietary recommendations, the app becomes an invaluable tool in the daily treatment of patients with diabetes, insulin resistance, or metabolic syndrome.

Diabetes, as a chronic illness, requires patients to constantly monitor their blood sugar levels, plan meals mindfully, and accurately adjust insulin or oral medication doses. In response to this complex daily reality, the DiabScale app was created to meet the real needs of people struggling with carbohydrate metabolism disorders.

Its origin story is unique: the inspiration came from the personal journey of one of the project’s co-founders, who was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes. The tedious task of calculating carbohydrate exchanges and insulin doses for every meal caused stress and took considerable time. In response, her partner developed the first version of the application, which was later expanded into a comprehensive therapeutic platform.

– DiabScale has from the beginning been a response to the specific, everyday needs of people with diabetes, insulin resistance, and metabolic syndrome. The core design principles focused on three pillars: making insulin dose calculations easier based on meal composition, increasing patient safety through the recording and analysis of metabolic parameters, and supporting the development of healthy eating habits and lifestyles – explains Aurelia Hübner, Co-Founder of the project. – It was also crucial to instill in users a sense of agency and control over the disease – making the app a tool that not only assists, but also educates, motivates, and genuinely improves quality of life – she adds.

Growing through experience

However, the app’s development has not been without challenges. One of the biggest is designing algorithms that account for the high individual variability in diabetes management due to differences in treatment, daily routines, physical activity, and insulin sensitivity. The DiabScale team plans to incorporate artificial intelligence (AI) to enable the creation of personalized nutrition and workout plans. Simultaneously, technical development continues, including migrating the app to the Flutter environment, making it available on both Android and iOS systems. Organizational challenges, such as the lack of external funding or internationalization barriers, are being gradually overcome through the team’s determination and active communication with users.

DiabScale already offers a rich set of features that significantly simplify disease management. Users have access to a database of over 250,000 food products, barcode scanning, meal creation and storage, automatic calculation of carbohydrate and fat-protein exchanges, and suggested insulin doses. The app allows users to keep a glycemia and insulin therapy log, analyze statistical data on a daily, weekly, and monthly basis, and set precise caloric and macronutrient goals. Users can also personalize their diet and physical activity plans, setting macronutrient ratios, metabolic goals, and activity levels.

Technology as a partner

In the future, DiabScale aims to become an even more advanced therapeutic tool. A key direction of development is integration with continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) devices such as FreeStyle Libre, Dexcom, or Medtronic. There are also plans to integrate with insulin pumps, enabling synchronization of insulin doses and glucose level data with food intake information. This comprehensive integration will allow for more precise therapy adjustments, improved metabolic control, and the automation of many therapeutic processes.

– Artificial intelligence, which we’ve already started implementing, will play a crucial role in our system – explains Hübner. – We want to use AI to generate nutrition and physical activity recommendations based on behavioral and metabolic data, as well as community patterns. The system will learn user preferences, predict glycemic responses to specific foods, and suggest alternatives. Moreover, AI will assist in verifying new products added to the database, minimizing errors, and speeding up the approval process.

DiabScale is also a community-driven project, developed in close dialogue with patients. The app has an active support group on Facebook, and the creators maintain direct contact with users, listening to their opinions and suggestions. Plans include the introduction of a “community mode” and professional support, enabling users to connect with diabetes educators and dietitians via the app. Thanks to features like cloud data synchronization, collaboration in patient–dietitian or child–parent modes will also be possible.

What’s next?

By developing DiabScale, its creators are not only addressing current needs but also shaping a new standard in diabetes management. Their ambition is to create an intelligent, personalized health assistant – one that is available every day, ready to support users in making dietary, therapeutic, and behavioral decisions. The coming years will bring the expansion of premium features, enhancement of AI modules, and international expansion. The team is initially targeting Central and Eastern European markets, with plans to later reach countries experiencing the highest growth in diabetes incidence.

DiabScale is more than just an app. It’s a growing ecosystem of digital tools with a mission to improve the quality of life for people with diabetes and empower them to make informed health decisions. It is also a powerful example of how personal patient experience can be the catalyst for innovation that bridges technology, medicine, and empathy in the service of health. The entire Healthtech of the Week team is rooting for the continued success of this socially significant project!

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Stay tuned for more in the “Health Tech of the Week” series, where we’ll continue to uncover fascinating stories from the world of medical technologies that are changing the face of healthcare. If you’re working on an innovative project in the field of new technologies and medicine or want to recommend an interesting solution, contact us at: [email protected].