Diabetes is a growing global health crisis, with over 537 million adults living with the disease worldwide. In the United States alone, the number of cases has more than doubled over the past two decades, reaching 37.3 million people in 2021. Diabetes also poses a significant burden on healthcare infrastructure, costing the U.S. an estimated $327 billion annually.
That’s why the healthcare industry is laser-focused on developing innovative solutions to combat this epidemic.
At the head of this initiative are experts like Isha Sharma, product development project manager at Medtronic. With a passion for improving patient outcomes and a long history of expertise, she’s uniquely qualified to discuss the advancements in diabetes care.
The Complexities of Managing Diabetes
Diabetes is a complicated condition that requires a multifaceted approach to management. Patients must closely monitor their blood glucose levels, administer insulin to avoid hyperglycemia, and make lifestyle or dietary modifications — which can be a real challenge for many.
On top of that, poorly managed diabetes can have a significant impact on a patient’s quality of life, leading to comorbid conditions and increased healthcare costs.
However, traditional methods such as prescription medications and daily blood glucose measurements can be burdensome and often fail to provide the level of control needed to prevent complications like neuropathy or skin damage. To make matters worse, the development of better solutions can be challenging due to the highly regulated nature of the medical device industry, requiring extensive testing, clinical trials, and regulatory approvals.
This is where innovators like Isha Sharma come in.
Meet Isha Sharma & Medtronic
With several years of experience in the industry, Isha Sharma has worked across a spectrum of health conditions, including cancer, hearing loss, dermatological disorders, and osteoarthritis. However, her passion lies in improving diabetes care, driven by her experience witnessing the challenges her grandmother faced with the condition in India.
In India, Sharma notes, there is a distinct lack of resources for people living with diabetes. There’s also a significant lack of access to quality healthcare in general, causing the loss of countless lives daily.
It’s for this reason that Sharma came to work for Medtronic.
Medtronic is a leading medical device company that develops and manufactures technologies to treat more than 70 conditions (including chronic diseases like heart failure, Parkinson’s disease, and diabetes).
Sharma’s leadership in project management has been crucial in enhancing Medtronic’s diabetes care solutions. One key example is her role in bringing the MiniMed 780G system to the U.S. market, a system that was approved by the FDA in 2023. This automated insulin delivery system is a combination of a continuous glucose monitoring system and an insulin pump, which is driven by an advanced algorithm, including the only state-of-the-art “meal detection” technology that provides automatic adjustments and corrections to a patient’s sugar levels every five minutes.
This project not only helped thousands of diabetic patients across the U.S and around the world, but it also helped Medtronic obtain double-digit revenue growth.
She’s also overseen projects to upgrade Medtronic’s older automated insulin delivery systems with new firmware and software capabilities, enabling patients to access the latest features without needing to replace their physical devices.
Currently, her work is mainly focused on leading app development projects, including MiniMed App, Care Partner App, Guardian App, and Updater App (all available on the App Store and Google Play). These apps allow patients to easily track health measures such as blood sugar, democratizing healthcare access and empowering patients to take their health into their own hands.
An Open Future for Diabetes Treatment
As the global diabetes epidemic continues to grow, the need for innovative solutions has never been more pressing. That’s why experts like Isha Sharma are passionate about creating a future where people with diabetes can live healthier, more fulfilling lives.
“Innovation is essential for what I do,” she notes. “As humanity advances, so do healthcare complications, and I aspire to contribute to projects that can impact the world for good.”
By leveraging the power of data, Isha Sharma is empowering individuals to take control of their health and reduce the burden of managing this chronic condition — all while redefining the standard of care and setting a new benchmark for the healthcare industry.
