Our story

From SPECTRUM to SmartStart CGM

Melissa first heard about the German CGM user education programme SPECTRUM at a diabetes conference in 2017. It sounded great, but several small-group, in-person sessions would be too resource-intensive to scale. Melissa wondered if the principles of SPECTRUM could be adapted to a digital format.

In late 2020, the CGM-TRAIN study showed that SPECTRUM increased knowledge of CGM use by 43% vs baseline. At the same time, COVID-related service disruptions were making inequalities worse for people with diabetes. Some patients who had just received NHS funding for CGM had to wait for months to start using CGM because in-person training was on hold and there wasn’t a virtual option. Some healthcare teams issued the CGM supplies and directed patients to unvalidated online resources. All the while, people paying for CGM privately could start using it right away - without specific training or support. 

Taking into account the expanding evidence base for CGM use in people with type 2 diabetes, especially the MOBILE study, the time was right to create SmartStart CGM.

With support from Diabetes Center Berne in Switzerland, we completed the proof-of-concept study in September 2023. In June 2024, we presented the study results at the American Diabetes Association’s 84th Annual Scientific Sessions in Orlando, Florida.

In 2025 we’re building our own platform for adaptive diabetes education, thanks to a £185,050 non-dilutive Smart Grant from Innovate UK, part of UK Research and Innovation.