The app, which has been part funded by UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), as part of the Digital Health Technology Catalyst (DHTC) initiative will fill a vital gap – the NHS can’t provide people with type 1 diabetes enough personal advice.
Instead, the Quin app will provide daily, evidence-based recommendations on insulin-dosing.
In addition to initial funding UKRI also organised and funded a visit, last year, to the US, to showcase the company and the app.
Survey
A survey conducted by Quin found that:
nearly half (46%) of people with type 1 diabetes need to correct their insulin doses under existing medical guidance
nearly one in five (17%) are not confident with the doses they inject.
Two thirds of respondents to Quin’s survey said that they see their doctor three times a year or fewer.
This leaves many of those with type 1 diabetes to manage their lifestyle and insulin-dosing independently.
Report
A report by the All Party Parliamentary Group for Diabetes in 2018 found that 42% of people with type 1 diabetes experience elevated distress, which can have long-term health implications.
Quin’s research builds upon this finding, identifying that:
55% of respondents with type 1 diabetes experience anxiety and stress
46% experience depression
50% experience increased fatigue.
During the survey, 75% of people with type 1 diabetes agree that health tech apps give individuals the freedom to better manage their lifestyle and wellness more independently.
Similarly, 70% feel that introducing health tech apps into healthcare could alleviate many of the challenges faced by the industry – but just 23% currently use a health tech app to monitor their health and only 36% would trust an app’s diagnosis.
These numbers indicate that there is a clear market demand for health tech apps, but that the right product that users require is not there yet.
User-focused app
To address this demand, Quin has launched its user-focused diabetes app on the Apple App Store in the UK and Ireland.
This app is the first of its kind to provide personalised, continuous data-led support for insulin dosing decisions based on behavioural and physiological factors.
Results from beta tests of the app show 76% felt better about living with diabetes while using Quin and 35% improved their HbA1c – Quin is the only app to have achieved this result.
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Quin CEO and Co-Founder, Cyndi Williams (pictured) says: “Despite the best efforts of the NHS and healthcare providers, it’s not possible to support people with type 1 diabetes across all the different aspects of their lifestyle. With modern diabetes management technology, such as Quin, we have the opportunity to use learning technologies to provide better support based on real-life data and user experience.”
UKRI medicines manufacturing challenge director, Andy Jones, added: "When we announced a £35 million investment in DHTC projects like the Quin app were exactly the sorts of innovations we hoped would result.
“This, and other projects that bring the NHS and digital companies together, will both help to grow and support a more innovative digital health sector and improve patient outcomes and access to treatment. It’s just one of the many ways in which UKRI, and the medicines manufacturing challenge, is investing for impact.”
Further information
The Quin app is the product of years of work by a female-founded medtech start-up. The company’s pioneering work in type 1 diabetes lifestyle management technology, in close collaboration with academia, aims to change the way people think about diabetes. Quin has already successfully raised over £2.7 million in angel funding, a successful crowd-funding campaign and funding from the Innovate UK DHTC through UKRI/Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund.