Dnurse Launches InsulinK in the U.S., Completing a Closed-Loop Diabetes Management Ecosystem with First-of-its-Kind Insulin Dose Auto-Capture Device
VCBeat (WeChat ID: vcbeat) has learned from multiple U.S. media outlets that Dnurse recently launched InsulinK, the world’s first automated device for capturing insulin injection dosages, on IndieGoGo. This device automatically records insulin doses, helping users clearly understand the relationship between insulin dosage and blood glucose levels. According to images circulated online, the device is designed in the shape of a ring; it attaches to an insulin pen and activates with a simple finger touch. The launch of InsulinK fills a gap in the collection of insulin injection dosage data.VCBeat (WeChat ID: vcbeat) exclusively disclosed this news.
Publisher of InsulinKSugar NurseTanghu Technology is a Chinese internet healthcare company founded in 2013, specializing in diabetes management. By leveraging smart mobile blood glucose meters, mobile applications, and cloud-based databases, the company employs a “device + application + service” business model. This approach provides patients with a comprehensive, closed-loop diabetes self-management system that facilitates simple and convenient blood glucose monitoring, free storage and sharing of data, remote consultations, reminders and recommendations for daily diet, exercise, and medication, as well as experience-sharing within a social network of peers.。
Founder Li Chengzhi isAn old friend of VCBeat (WeChat ID: vcbeat), heWorked for 14 years at mobile communications companies such as Motorola and Tecom Wireless, and served as CEO of the U.S. telecommunications company Infosonics from 2010 to 2013.Tanghu TechnologyThe team comprises professionals from multiple fields, including mobile communication terminal technology, clinical medicine, chronic disease management, and internet-based services.
Tanghu TechnologyIts portfolio includes the Tang Hushi diabetes management app and its physician version, as well as a range of Tang Hushi-branded smart blood glucose meters: Tang Hushi Jin, Tang Hushi Mobile Blood Glucose Meter, Tang Hushi·Xing, and the newly released InsulinK.
Tang Hushi Gold
According to public information, Tanghu Technology released an independent smart blood glucose meter named "Tanghushi Jin" this July. This device adopts Tripl-Wells anti-interference technology and gold electrode test strips, meeting the latest international accuracy standard ISO 15197:2013. Additionally, the device has a built-in APP, with Tanghushi aiming for 60% of doctor services to be completed by the human-machine intelligent decision support system (IDSS) within the APP. It is reported that the product has obtained CFDA registration approval and is scheduled for official launch and sales in November this year.
Tang Hushi Mobile Blood Glucose Meter
The Sugar Nurse mobile blood glucose meter, building on the core features of the Sugar Nurse Gold model, offers a more compact design and connects to smartphones via the headphone jack. By simply downloading the Sugar Nurse app, your phone becomes an intelligent blood glucose management system. The product is now available on the market, with the kit priced at 199 yuan (including 50 test strips and 50 lancets).
Sugar Nurse · Apricot
Tanghushi Xing uses wireless transmission; users can scan the QR code inside the Xing packaging with the app to bind their account. Once bound, blood glucose measurements and step counts recorded by Xing are automatically synchronized to the app. Additionally, the hardware and software design of Tanghushi Xing is open-source, allowing partners to develop similar data transmission devices. The product is now available on the market, with a kit priced at 288 yuan (including 50 test strips and 50 lancets).
InsulinK
The World’s First Automated Insulin Injection Dosage Collection Device—InsulinK: This device automatically records insulin injection dosages, helping users clearly understand the relationship between insulin dosage and blood glucose levels.
Insulin is crucial for blood glucose control in patients with diabetes, and the dosage of insulin injections directly affects the efficacy of glycemic management. When the injected insulin dose exceeds the reasonable range recommended by physicians, it may lead to hypoglycemia, posing even life-threatening risks. By recording each insulin injection dose alongside corresponding blood glucose monitoring data, patients can better understand the individualized relationship between their blood glucose levels and insulin requirements, which also assists physicians in prescribing more accurately.
Got itAfter InsulinK,When a user injects insulin, InsulinK uses a high-sensitivity digital microphone to capture the sounds generated by the internal mechanical engagement of the insulin pen during injection. By leveraging noise reduction, signal processing, and speech recognition technologies, it automatically calculates the injected insulin dose and uploads the data via Bluetooth to the Tanghushi App and the cloud.
Meanwhile, the Intelligent Decision Support System (IDSS) within the app integrates users’ baseline data, medication records, blood glucose readings, and other health-related information such as diet and exercise to provide real-time, personalized analytical recommendations. This helps users more easily understand the relationship between insulin dosage and blood glucose levels, thereby enhancing their ability and adherence to diabetes self-management and achieving better glycemic control.
Furthermore, data such as insulin dosage and blood glucose levels can be shared in real time to social media platforms via the Tang Hushi App. This enables patients’ physicians and family members to conveniently monitor their blood glucose and medication status, and to provide professional medication guidance, reminders, or assistance.
As diabetes remains incurable, the nearly 415 million patients worldwide are confined to management and control therapies. Insulin is one of the most critical medications for managing diabetes, and the accuracy of insulin injection dosing is a key factor in effective disease control. However, until now, apart from the patients themselves, neither their families, physicians, nor insulin manufacturers have been able to monitor in real time whether insulin doses are being administered correctly, or even whether patients are adhering to their insulin therapy.
Tanghu Technology’s low-key launch of InsulinK not only helps users and doctors more easily grasp the relationship between insulin dosage and blood glucose control levels, thereby avoiding dangerous situations such as hypoglycemia caused by unreasonable insulin dosing, but also enhances the data dimensions and accuracy of intelligent feedback within the Intelligent Decision Support System (IDSS) of the Tanghushi APP. This improvement makes the APP’s functionality more comprehensive, establishing it as the first internet product to form a complete closed loop integrating blood glucose values, insulin levels, medication, diet, exercise data, and personalized recommendations. This development holds practical significance for helping patients manage their blood glucose in a cost-effective and efficient manner.
To better understandThe Real-World Significance of Insulink: An Exclusive Interview by a VCBeat (WeChat ID: vcbeat) ReporterLi Chengzhi, Founder of Tanghushi.Li Chengzhi told reporters:“Since the insulin injection dosage plays a crucial role in blood glucose control for diabetic patients, an insufficient dose fails to effectively lower blood glucose levels, while an excessive dose poses a risk of hypoglycemia, which can be life-threatening in severe cases. However, at present, only the patients themselves know the insulin dosage they have administered or whether they have taken their injections on time. Their family members, physicians, and even insulin manufacturers remain completely unaware. This lack of transparency is inconsistent with the ‘Five Carriages’ principle of diabetes management, thereby hindering the effective control of this chronic disease.”
“The ‘Five-Horse Carriage’ approach emphasizes the synergistic effects of medication, diet, exercise, blood glucose monitoring, and education. But how can we track medication adherence? Thanks to the advent of smart devices, data on exercise and blood glucose levels can now be collected in real time, while smart pillboxes enable the capture of medication intake data. The launch of Insulink fills the gap in collecting data on insulin injection dosages.”
The Sugar Nurse app has been committed to enhancing patients’ self-management capabilities and adherence through mobile internet tools, thereby expanding the availability of out-of-hospital medical resources. At the core of the app is an Intelligent Decision Support System (IDSS) that provides real-time, personalized recommendations and guidance based on patients’ baseline data, blood glucose levels, and medication usage. The system aims to automate 60% of physicians’ tasks, allowing limited medical personnel to focus on higher-value activities.
Since IDSS is a data-driven intelligent system, devices for automated data collection become critically important. (The IDSS within the Sugar Nurse APP, building upon the U.S.-based WellDoc model, has analyzed over 10 million multi-dimensional data points from the past two years. Nearly 700 physicians provided medical interpretations to develop approximately 10,000 real-world diabetes scenarios, enabling the system to deliver fully real-time, personalized, and automated recommendations for patients diagnosed with diabetes.)
The launch of products such as the Intelligent Decision Support System (IDSS), Tanghushi Jin, and InsulinK appears to indicate that, amid the shortage of medical resources in China, Tanghu Technology has not focused on leveraging existing medical resource stocks. Instead, it has adhered to the philosophy of “technology transforming diabetes care” by employing technological means outside hospital settings to achieve a low-cost, high-efficiency increase in medical resource supply.
The goal is not only to assist patients but also to help insurance companies and health management organizations reduce the costs associated with controlling complications. This philosophy aligns with a slogan used during Tang Hushi’s closed beta testing in July: “A glucometer without a doctor is not Tang Hushi.” It is reported that the company recently completed a round of financing. What are Tang Hu Technology’s future strategic plans in the mobile healthcare sector?VCBeat (WeChat ID: vcbeat) alsoWill continue to monitor.