Continuous Glucose Monitors Effective RPM for ESRD Patients

Researchers from the University of Virginia Health System have found that using a factory-calibrated continuous glucose monitor (CGM) effectively measured changes in blood sugar levels even when treating people on dialysis, a population on which this type of remote patient monitoring hasn’t been widely tested.

Along with the rapid implementation of telehealth and remote patient monitoring devices, continuous glucose monitors are becoming a highly used tool among diabetes patients. When on dialysis, patients need to track blood sugar levels quickly, as hypoglycemia can be lethal. Continuous glucose monitors are able to manage blood sugar levels among these patients, as well as those battling end-stage renal disease (ESRD).

But until now, testing CGM as a key remote patient monitoring tool hasn’t happened among the ESRD patient population, the researchers said. ESRD patients are medically complex, they said, so they are usually left out of clinical trials assessing CGM as remote patient monitoring devices.

This latest study looked at the efficacy of CGM among ESRD patients, specifically.

To obtain data supporting the accuracy of continuous glucose monitors, Meaghan M. Stumpf, MD, an expert on diabetes and diabetes-management technology at UVA Health, and colleagues used data from 20 patients receiving hemodialysis who were being monitored by the device known as Dexcom G6-Pro.

All participants in the study wore the monitor for ten days and took four to seven blood sugar readings daily. After the 10-day period, researchers evaluated those results along with the blood sugar readings from dialysis sessions.

The data showed that the continuous glucose monitor displayed clinical reliability and supplied accuracy when estimating blood sugar levels. However, the device did also, show the tendency to slightly overestimate blood sugar levels.

“Although we certainly need larger studies, I am encouraged that these factory- calibrated continuous glucose monitors may be reasonably accurate for patients on hemodialysis therapy,” Stumpf said in a press release. “CGM use for these patients could lead to improved glucose control, improved safety from life-threatening hypoglycemia and, very importantly, improved quality of life.” 

The utilization of remote patient monitoring and wearable devices has become a common practice when tracking the progression of chronic conditions.

In January 2020, researchers from the University of Michigan created a wearable device to detect grafts-versus-host disease. Using temperature and heart rate information, the sensor could determine whether a patient’s physiological tendencies are an early sign of the illness.

In December 2021, researchers from the University of Buffalo created an artificial intelligence model that reviewed metabolic and cardiovascular biomarkers to identify any potential health risks a patient may have in the future.

A study from April 2022 provided information regarding how wearable sensors can identify and manage COVID-19. Researchers acknowledged that throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, one of the main difficulties was the lack of quick identification, leading to the spreading of the disease. The study indicated that wearable devices could use data such as heart rate, skin temperature, and breathing patterns to identify potential signs of COVID-19.