Medical Device Network

Trinity partners with PulseAI to develop CGM sensor technology

The collaboration focuses on incorporating Trinity’s AI-driven health & wellness analytics platform with its CGM technology, which it acquired from Waveform in January.

Irish diagnostics and diabetes management company Trinity Biotech has partnered with an Irish medical artificial intelligence (AI) company PulseAI to enhance its continuous glucose monitor (CGM) biosensor technology.

Trinity added the CGM technology to its portfolio as part of the acquisition of WaveForm Technologies, in January. The company paid $12.5m in cash to WaveForm along with 9 million of its shares to Preceptive, WaveForm’s parent company.

WaveForm’s portfolio consisted of a Cascade CGM system, which received a European CE mark in 2019. Following the acquisition, the Cascade device was removed from the market. Trinity stated that it did not plan to sell the Cascade device “in its current form”. It plans to design a next-generation CGM sensor using Waveform’s platform technology, especially one that has needle-free insertion.

As part of the Trinity and PulseAI partnership, the former will provide “unique multi-parameter CGM datasets” from its existing biosensor database to PulseAI. The company will use this data to support the design and implementation of Trinity Biotech’s AI-driven health & wellness analytics platform, which will be a “key component” of Trinity’s CGM solution.

“This collaboration will deliver important insights as we develop our AI-driven analytical platform,” said Trinity’s chief technology officer Dr Gary Keating.

“This project will harness the potential of using additional personalised data from in, on and around the body to enhance the utility of continuous glucose measurements, improving the user experience, increasing satisfaction, and providing superior metabolic insights.”

Trinity said it plans to take the analysis a step further and lay the groundwork to develop a health and wellness platform.

GlobalData expects the CGM device market to generate $8.4bn in 2030. The market growth drivers include the Covid-19 pandemic, the increasing ease of use of these devices, the need for improved healthcare in rural communities, and the ageing population.

WaveForm’s CGM technology is also used by DexCom, as part of a perpetual, worldwide, non-exclusive license. In February, the company launched its real-time CGM system Dexcom ONE+ in Europe. The device has a water-resistant sensor to measure blood glucose, a transmitter that sends CGM readings and a Dexcom One smartphone-compatible app, that allows for data sharing and personalisation.