According to the International Diabetes Federation, there are currently 363 million adults who are suffering from diabetes. By 2045, that number is expected to skyrocket to a deeply concerning 700 million. To help serve and protect all of those people, Abbott has released the innovative FreeStyle Libre 3 System.
On September 28, Abbott announced that this Continuous Glucose Monitoring (CGM) system was given the European CE mark of approval for people ages 4 and up with diabetes. According to Abbott, this “much anticipated” FreeStyle Libre 3 features “the world’s smallest, thinnest glucose sensor (about the size of two stacked U.S pennies)” for discreet monitoring without a fingerstick.
How it works
The system includes many of the well-known benefits of its predecessor, the FreeStyle Libre 2, such as 14-day accuracy and optional glucose alarms. “People living with diabetes are at the center of our design process,” said Jared Watkin, Senior Vice President of Diabetes Care for Abbott. He also shares that they “made our next-generation technology even more discreet for a better user experience to make managing Diabetes as easy and seamless as possible.”
In addition to these respected and time-tested features, the FreeStyle Libre 3 includes some very helpful new benefits. According to Abbott, such improvements include “continuous real-time glucose readings automatically delivered to a person’s smartphone every minute and a sensor that’s easy to apply with a one-piece applicator.”
Quality and Affordability
The FreeStyle Libre 3 is more affordable and environmentally friendly than its competitors. As noted in Abbott’s press release, it reduces the “system’s total volume by more than 70%”. It was also designed to “be more sustainable for the environment, including a 42% reduction in plastic use and 43% decrease in carton paper.” The system’s price has also been frozen to the same cost as previous generations to make it more accessible to the public.
Watkin has shared their determination as a company to keep the bar high in terms of innovation while being cost-friendly. After having received approval from the U.S Food and Drug Administration and CE marks on several products, Abbott is on a roll and plans to make sure everyone can get access to their possibly life-saving system.
Since releasing its first disposable glucose monitor in 2014, Abbott has stayed true to its message that “all people should have access to high-quality, accurate, and affordable diabetes technologies.” The company promises a bright future for those living with diabetes and plans to launch the FreeStyle Libre 3 system in Europe in the coming months.
Update in regards to the Abbott Diabetes Care FreeStyle Libre 3 app compatibility – 26th of January 2022
We received a few reports about possible issues with the FreeStyle Libre 3 app on Android and users complained that it would only work on iPhones (iOS). While this is not entirely correct, we still found out that the group of Android OS devices that are supported for the FreeStyle Libre 3 Android app is not guaranteed to include your phone.
We tested with Google Pixel 3 XL and Moto G9 smartphones and got the feedback that these would not be supported for instance. You can check if your device is supported on the app page on the Google Play store. If it shows you “This app is not available for any of your devices”, then you might not want to buy this solution if you want to use the app.
What Android phones are supported for the FreeStyle Libre 3 app? While Apple products appear to be generally supported. The only Android devices that were stated by Abbott to support the app are Samsung Galaxy S8, S9, S10, A40, as well as Google Pixel 5 on either Android OS version 10 or 11, for the current version of the app, as of today. This means not that many smartphones running Android OS are supported officially and you should certainly check into this before you make a purchase.
YouTube: FreeStyle Libre 3 System Receives CE Mark
Photo credits: The images are owned by Abbott and have been provided for press usage.
Source: International Diabetes Federation
Editorial notice: Update 26th of January 2022 – We added a part about Android smartphone app compatibility at the bottom of the article.
