TORONTO, May 8, 2018 /CNW/ - Today, Ascensia Diabetes Care announced the launch of its upgraded CONTOUR^®DIABETES app in Canada, including the new My Patterns feature, which intelligently analyzes the results of blood glucose tests to provide personalized meaningful advice to help people with diabetes manage their health.

For many, diabetes is a lifelong disease that requires dedicated self-management in all aspects of life from the choices made in the kitchen to the amount of physical activity in a day. Diabetes management extends beyond receiving the correct dosage of insulin throughout the day; it's also about understanding how life choices impact blood glucose levels. The new My Patterns feature elevates diabetes self-management and empowers those living with diabetes to live a healthier and smarter lifestyle.

"I was diagnosed with diabetes at age 12 and it never stopped me from achieving my goals of being a professional hockey player. Living with diabetes is just something I've always had to be mindful of on and off the ice and I've had to make lifestyle changes to balance my career and diabetes," says Max Domi, professional hockey player with type 1 diabetes (T1D). "The new My Patterns feature on the CONTOUR^®DIABETES app is a game changer, it's like I have a personal coach in my pocket – notifying me when I'm not on track and giving actionable advice on how to improve my blood glucose levels."

The new My Patterns feature on the CONTOUR^®DIABETES app was developed using a behavioural science concept - Information, Motivation and Behavioural Skills model for chronic diseases. This concept was pioneered by psychologist Dr. William Fisher who's proven people with diabetes need actionable information, motivation to act and specific behavioural skills, to make changes to improve the self-management of their diabetes¹. My Patterns is designed to use digital technology to help the person with diabetes with each of these aspects, and therefore support more effective self-management.

The new CONTOUR^®DIABETES My Patterns feature uses test results from the meter to identify patterns in blood glucose readings, suggests possible causes of changes and provide guidance and personalized advice to help address it. It allows patients to set reminders or use structured testing plans to help improve their blood glucose readings and will track their progress to see if the pattern improves over time*.

This latest upgrade to the CONTOUR^®DIABETES app provides a smarter tool that can help to make self-management of diabetes easier. The latest version of the app includes the ability to recognize 14 different patterns and use 11 different structured testing plans, with more patterns and testing plans will be added in the future. The new version will be available from today in the Apple App Store (iOS) and Google Play (Android).

The CONTOUR^®DIABETES app is designed to seamlessly connect to the CONTOUR^®NEXT ONE meter. The CONTOURNEXT ONE BGMS is also the most accurate system that has been developed by Asencia Diabetes Care to-date. Published study data has shown the CONTOURNEXT ONE BGMS to be remarkably accurate², meeting the latest global accuracy standards, the EN ISO 15197:2015 accuracy criteria³.

About Ascensia Diabetes Care

Ascensia Diabetes Care is a global specialist diabetes care company, dedicated to helping people living with diabetes. Our mission is to empower people living with diabetes through innovative solutions that simplify and improve their lives. We use our innovation and specialist expertise in diabetes to develop high quality solutions and tools that make a positive, daily difference for people with diabetes.

Home to the world renowned CONTOUR^® portfolio of blood glucose monitoring systems, our products combine advanced technology with user-friendly functionality that help people with diabetes to manage their condition. We are committed to continued research, innovation and development of new products and solutions. As a trusted partner in the diabetes community, we collaborate closely with healthcare professionals and other partners to ensure our products meet the highest standards of accuracy, precision and reliability, and that we conduct our business compliantly and with integrity.

Ascensia Diabetes Care was established in 2016 through the sale of Bayer Diabetes Care to Panasonic Healthcare Holdings Co., Ltd. Ascensia Diabetes Care products are sold in more than 125 countries. Ascensia Diabetes Care has around 1,700 employees and operations in 31 countries.

For further information, please visit the Ascensia Diabetes Care website at: http://www.ascensia.com.

Ascensia and Contour are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of Ascensia Diabetes Care. The Bluetooth word mark and logos are registered trademarks owned by Bluetooth SIG, Inc., and any use of such marks herein is under license. Apple and the Apple logo are trademarks of Apple Inc., registered in the U.S. and other countries. App Store is a service mark of Apple Inc. Google Play is a trademark of Google Inc.

About the CONTOUR^®NEXT ONE Blood Glucose Monitoring System:

The CONTOUR^®NEXT ONE system features an easy-to-use wireless-enabled smart meter that seamlessly connects to a smart mobile device via Bluetooth® connectivity. The meter provides immediate feedback through smartLIGHT technology and the CONTOUR^®DIABETES app collects, stores and analyses patient blood glucose results received from the meter.

The app combines these results with other data recorded by the user, to provide detailed information about their condition that can help them understand how their everyday lives may impact their blood glucose readings. Through the app, users can also share the reports of their blood glucose results with their healthcare professionals, helping to create more informed and insightful discussions during their visits.