Montreal may be the home to yet another major medical discovery.
Dr. Ahmad Haidar of McGIll University is testing a new app to measure blood sugar levels.
The app would be paired with an insulin pump, and measure levels every 10 minutes.
Depending on the results, it would then automatically release insulin.
The whole process would be controlled on a phone.
"You have an app installed in the phone and it will communicate with both the sensor and the pump," Haidar said.
The app could replace the painful finger injections that diabetics have to endure multiple times a day.
He's testing the technology at a summer camp for children suffering from the disease.
They're experiencing firsthand the fruits of Haidar's labour.
"The shots were hard for me," said attendee Juliette Benoit.
Haidar has been working on the technology since 2011.
During testing, he noticed that children spend twice the amount of time in the ideal range for sugal levels, and instances of low blood sugar are cut in half.
"People do a lot of activities eat a lot of food and we want to see how the system works in these kinds of situation," Haidar said.
As long as kids are being active and using energy, they won't have to check their blood sugar levels as frequently.
It's also a more discreet way to manage the condition, something the campers appreciate.
"Sometimes, people were afraid of me." Benoit said.
Haidar hopes that his technology will become commercially available after its testing phase.
