Xiao Tang Guan: A Compact, High-Capacity Smart Pillbox for Diabetics with Integrated Glucose Monitoring

The 2017 "Report on Patients' Digital Life" released by Xueqiu showed that 32% of patients do not fully adhere to their physicians' medication instructions, a proportion that is even higher among diabetic patients, approaching 40%.

“I often forget to take my medication, rush to make up for the missed dose when I remember, and eventually stop taking it altogether.” If this sounds familiar, such procrastination may be why your condition fails to improve. In fact, taking medication on time and at the prescribed dosage is key to ensuring its therapeutic efficacy.

The advent of smart pillboxes has turned the tide in this situation. In May 2016, Chen Weiqing founded Nanjing Jianzhilu Cloud Medical Technology Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as “Jianzhilu”). The company is dedicated to providing intelligent health management solutions for patients with chronic diseases and developed the Jianzhilu Smart Pillbox. In response to market demand, it launched “Xiao Tangguan,” a compact smart pill dispenser specifically designed for diabetes patients, on October 16 this year.

In addition to retaining the medication management and drug reminder functions of traditional smart pillboxes, Xiao Tang Guan has specifically added a blood glucose testing feature for diabetic patients. Its sensor chip utilizes GPRS technology to upload data in real time to the platform (WeChat Official Account), allowing family members and users to view the data at any time.

VCBeat (WeChat: vcbeat) has learned that since its launch, the Xiaotangguan device has achieved sales of 3,500 units within just half a month. It has signed cooperation agreements with more than 20 healthcare companies, including Nanjing Pharmaceutical in the pharmaceutical sector, Miao Health in the health management sector, and An Kang Tong and China’s Elderly Care Service Platform in the elderly care sector.

According to Xiang Hongding, Director of the Diabetes Center at Peking Union Medical College Hospital and President of the Chinese Diabetes Society, there are 264 million people in China with abnormal blood glucose levels. Behind this group of diabetes “reserves” lies a high-risk population, bringing the total number of individuals directly threatened by diabetes to 664 million. Diabetic complications pose significant health risks (easily leading to cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases, neuropathy, nephropathy, retinopathy, etc.), and current medical capabilities cannot yet eradicate the disease. Management primarily relies on taking medication regularly and as prescribed to control blood glucose levels and delay the onset of complications.

After identifying a pain point in the market, Chen Weiqing decided to independently develop a smart pillbox specifically designed for diabetes management. Following extensive visits and research, the team resolved to create a compact and portable smart pillbox that integrates medication storage, automated reminders for patients with diabetes to take their medication, and real-time blood glucose monitoring. Thus, “Xiao Tang Guan” was born.

Xiao Tang Guan Pill Box: Compact Size (17×12×5.8 cm), Large Capacity (398 mL). It can store various medications as well as insulin pens, blood glucose test strips, lancing devices, and more. Learning from the lessons of its predecessors, Xiao Tang Guan adopts relatively stable GPRS technology to provide patients with an integrated solution ranging from intelligent medication reminders, medication management, and adherence tracking to smart blood glucose monitoring.

Patients can customize five medication schedules per day in the Xiao Tangguan pillbox, which provides timely reminders;

By scanning drug barcodes via the mobile mini-program, Xiao Tang Guan can promptly report alerts on inventory levels, expiration dates, and restocking needs, thereby enabling precise medication management.

After the Xiao Tang Guan pillbox connects to a mobile phone via GPRS, the system will automatically record medication intake times and issue automatic alerts in case of missed or duplicate doses.

Patients can open the glucose monitoring compartment of the medication box, insert the specialized glucose test strips, and measure their blood glucose levels at any time in accordance with the treatment plan.

In addition, Xiao Tangguan uses an all-in-one embedded biochemical sensing chip to record patient data in real time and synchronously, aggregating it on a platform (WeChat Official Account) for patients and their families to view at any time.

Although the launch of Xiao Tangguan may divert a segment of customers from Jianzhilv’s smart pillboxes, Jianzhilv has not abandoned its smart pillbox project. The company continues to invest human and material resources in research, development, and product upgrades, striving to achieve breakthroughs in the smart pillbox sector.

Jianzhilü positions its two products for distinct target demographics: the Jianzhilü Smart Pillbox is primarily designed for middle-aged and elderly individuals, featuring a relatively larger form factor suitable for home use; while Xiao Tangguan targets professionals aged 35 to 60, offering a portable design that can be carried on person to remind users to take their medication on schedule.

Medicine, software, and hardware form the essential team at Jianzhilv. The founder, Chen Weiqing, graduated with a degree in Clinical Medicine from Nanjing Medical University. He spent decades in pharmaceutical marketing management before launching his own venture focused on the R&D, production, and sales of medical devices. The hardware engineer has decades of experience working at LG, while the software engineer has been consistently engaged in software development at CITIC.

In terms of marketing, Chen Weiqing stated that Jianzhilv currently primarily adopts two approaches: new media promotion and recruiting city partners, leveraging the existing resources of Jianzhilv’s smart medication boxes to expand sales of Xiaotangguan.

Currently, the company is seeking resource partners.