A Word from a Prodigy (Meter)

Realizing we didn't have any insight into talking meters, we picked up a Prodigy Autocode meter from the booth during the American Association of Diabetes Educators (AADE) meeting held in August. The Autocode is an audible, no-coding meter, designed to be used by people with impaired vision. Prodigy makes the device such that once the test strip is inserted into the device, a voice tells the user the room temperature as a self-check (also helpful to confirm that the strip is accurately inserted). The voice instructs the user to apply the blood sample and beeps once the sample has been correctly applied. Readings take six seconds and are read out in the common unit of milligrams per deciliter. They are also displayed in large font on the blue backlit screen. Removing the strip powers off the meter.

For those with vision impairment, it must be empowering to once again be able to independently know your blood sugar. Potential improvements include changes in strip design to clearly distinguish top from bottom and back from front. We'd also like to see a guiding light on the meter to help direct strip placement for those who still have some sight. Additionally, we note that the audio readings are only stated once and most of the setup of the device (date, time, etc.) must be done by a non-visually impaired person. The best price we found online was $30 plus about $15 per box of 50 test strips.