Get a GRIP on glucose

Researchers have developed a new computerised system to easily monitor the levels of glucose in the blood of patients in intensive care.

A study published in the open access journal BMC Medical Informatics and Decision Making reports that GRIP, a computer software that assists in the monitoring of glucose levels in critically ill patients, saves nurses time and effort and is more efficient than the paper-based method currently used in many intensive care units (ICUs).

Monitoring blood glucose levels is necessary to avoid stress hyperglycemia, an insulin resistance condition that causes glucose levels to go up and has been shown to decrease patient survival. GRIP will be released as open source software.

Mathijs Vogelzang and colleagues from University Medical Centre Groningen in the Netherlands implemented GRIP in a 12-bed ICU, for four months. GRIP monitors glucose levels and recommends the appropriate insulin pump rate and the time at which the next blood sample should be taken, and indicates situations in which a physician needs to be notified.