Usability of Medical Devices for Patients With Diabetes Who Are Visually Impaired or Blind.

The estimation is that every third to fourth patient with diabetes suffers from some degree of diabetic retinopathy. Medical products for insulin administration (such as insulin pens and pumps) or glucose monitoring not optimized to the needs of these patients' represent a high barrier for optimal diabetes therapy in daily practice. To date, the number of devices suitable for visually impaired and blind patients with diabetes is scarce. This manuscript outlines the specific needs of this patient group with regard to systems for insulin administration, blood glucose measurement, and continuous glucose monitoring. We see the clear need for a policy requirement for manufacturers to provide accessible/user friendly technical aids for visually impaired and blind patients with diabetes. This would represent an important step toward improving the situation for this impressively large patient group.
Competing Interests: Declaration of Conflicting Interests: The author(s) declared the following potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: LH is consultant for a number of companies that are developing novel diagnostic and therapeutic options for the treatment of diabetes. He is shareholder of Profil Institut für Stoffwechselforschung GmbH, Neuss, Germany and Profil Institute for Clinical Research, San Diego, CA, USA. DD has no conflict of interest in connection with this manuscript. GF is general manager of the IDT (Institut für Diabetes-Technologie Forschungs- und Entwicklungsgesellschaft mbH an der Universität Ulm, Ulm, Germany), which carries out clinical studies on the evaluation of BG meters and medical devices for diabetes therapy on its own initiative and on behalf of various companies. BK is general manager of the FIDAM (Forschungsinstitut der Diabetes-Akademie Bad Mergentheim), which is engaged in clincal studies with medical devices on behalf of various research-institutions and companies.
(© 2016 Diabetes Technology Society.)