Skip navigation EPAM
GET IN TOUCH
  • GET IN TOUCH
  • Search
    Enter your search query or select one from the list of frequent searches below. Use up and down arrows to review and enter to select.

    Frequent Searches

    • Blockchain
    • Cloud
    • DevOps
    • Open Source
    • RPA
    • Automation
    • Digital Risk Management
    • Contact

Jana Care: Aina Device

PROJECT

CLIENT

Jana Care

SERVICE

  • Engineering

INDUSTRY

  • Life Sciences & Healthcare

Continuum partnered with Jana Care to develop a low-cost blood glucometer that could capture glucose readings and transfer this data using any smartphone device.

Jana Care, a high-growth startup in Bangalore, India, recognized the critical value of preventative care in combatting Type 2 diabetes.

Challenge

The recent rise of diabetes in India has been called an epidemic. Over 69 million cases of the disease were reported in India in 2015—a number expected to further increase in coming years, due in part to the population’s high obesity rates.

Jana Care, a high-growth startup in Bangalore, India, recognized the critical value of preventative care in combatting Type 2 diabetes. The founders also knew that, while most of India’s large and growing middle class still lacked access to traditional healthcare, they had something else in their pockets with the potential to help: smartphones

Continuum partnered with Jana Care to develop a low-cost blood glucometer that could capture glucose readings and transfer this data using any smartphone device. A new player in the large market of diabetes management, Jana Care’s solution had to be affordable and easy to distribute in developing countries, while also accurate and compatible with current test strip technology.

        RESEARCH & INSIGHTS

        Color Sensing ≠ Imaging

        The client originally envisioned using the smartphone’s camera function to capture and process glucose readings. This presented lifecycle and interface challenges, however, as the platform would require modification anytime a new smartphone, and its corresponding camera drivers and peculiarities, hit the market. Knowing the device needed only to read color from test strips, our engineers advised a simpler, more sustainable alternative using low-cost color-sensing technology incorporated within the device. Thanks to the reduced data bandwidth required, our client was able to reframe the device concept to leverage the audio jack connection instead.

        RESEARCH & INSIGHTS

        A Platform with Simple Flexibility

        Our team took particular care to develop a platform technology with the appropriate level of complexity. For their offering to be sustainable, Jana Care needed to build and distribute their glucometers in large numbers and at a low cost. That said, the small startup also wanted hardware with a design that was flexible enough to evolve that offering over time to other colormetric tests. The device we designed accommodates different types of test strips and offers sufficient bandwidth in optics performance required for other diagnostic use cases.

        RESEARCH & INSIGHTS

        Affordable Precision

        In spite of its low cost, the glucometer required a precision of optics that met levels of accuracy required for regulatory approvals. Due to the purposeful design of the sensing electronics and opto-mechanical integration, the device did not need any hardware tuning or alignment during manufacturing and performs with stability during mobile use in typical environments.

        RESEARCH & INSIGHTS

        Optimizing Low Power, Low Cost, and Low Maintenance

        Another key design decision related to the glucometer’s battery selection and power architecture. We knew recharging and battery replacement were going to be barriers to adoption. While lithium coin cell batteries are often used in small electronic devices like the one we were developing, they have limited power performance for driving LEDs, and are not as well distributed globally as their alkaline alternatives. This prompted us to power the glucometers with AAA batteries. Though the device is slightly larger in size as a result, users can easily access and replace the battery regardless of locale or technical know-how.

        01 / 04

        Solution

        Our team developed Jana Care’s Aina Device, a blood glucometer that uses existing colorimetric test strips and plugs into any smartphone via the headphone jack. Blood readings were communicated to an accompanying mobile app, which allowed pre-diabetic users to monitor consistently their glucose levels as well as weight, food intake, and physical activity. The app also linked to an online coaching and support system called the Habits Program, thus offering a holistic preventative care solution. By coupling accessible and affordable diagnostics with clinically proven coaching methodologies, Jana Care created a high-value system focused on clinical outcomes.

        The Aina device is clinically validated to ISO 15197 accuracy standards in support of FDA and CE approvals. It also offers the client a platform technology that can be expanded to measure A1c, lipids, and creatinine.

        Results

        Aina was released in March 2015 and has seen success. As of March 2018, providers across India have screened over 250,000 patients since the device's launch. In February 2018, Germany based Siemens Healthineers signed an exclusive agreement with Jana Care for the Aina Blood Monitoring System in India. Anuj Dhingra, Vice President, Global Marketing, Point Of Care Diagnostics, Siemens Healthineers said, "Aina can redefine patient experience by providing access to large populations that previously did not have easy access to care."

        RELATED PROJECTS