News
Colive Voice, the digital health initiative launched by the Luxembourg Institute of Health (Deep Digital Phenotyping Research Unit, Department of Precision Health), dedicated to the identification of vocal biomarkers of chronic diseases (cancer, diabetes, crohn’s disease…) has just established a new partnership with the Diabète Lab. Initiated by the Fédération Française des Diabétiques, the Diabète Lab is a key player that acts as a link between patients, public authorities and industry (pharmaceuticals, agri-food, medical devices), and acts to improve the management of diabetes and better understand the every day of people living with diabetes.
By putting the patient at the center of its approach, Diabète Lab wishes above all to give people with diabetes a more active role in research, innovation and in the development of treatments for diabetes. Patients are thus involved in the conception (initial idea, pre-testing of studies), study participation, and are also asked to share their experiences with innovative medical devices.
In a recent development, the Diabète Lab has committed to supporting Colive Voice in the recruitment of people with diabetes by soliciting the participation of thousand Diabète Acteurs motivated by the desire to improve digital technologies accessible to people with diabetes. With this collaboration, Colive Voice researchers hope to advance the identification of vocal biomarkers to better monitor diabetes and improve the remote monitoring of symptoms such as fatigue, hypoglycemia, anxiety or diabetes distress.
Diabetologists and general practitioners still lack tools to assess and diagnose diabetes distress – that is the burden of stress, fears, or emotions related to managing diabetes on a daily basis – a symptom that is often under-reported during consultations and is at least present in a third of all people living with diabetes. The identified vocal biomarkers could lead to concrete applications for the diagnosis of this symptom, for example by integrating voice monitoring into digital health applications or telemedicine solutions. Improving the identification and management of diabetes distress would improve the quality of life of millions of people with diabetes worldwide.
The collaboration with associations like Diabète Lab is another important milestone in the development of Colive Voice. We are proud to include volunteers living with diabetes into our study. We hope to identify the vocal biomarkers that can make a real difference in the daily management of this disease.
concludes Dr Guy Fagherazzi, Director of the Department of Precision Health and Principal Investigator of Colive Voice.
The Diabète LAB is an initiative of the Fédération Française des Diabétiques, launched in March 2015, having realized that patients with diabetes were often the forgotten ones in innovation. The objectives of the Diabète LAB are to get to know people living with diabetes better and to imagine tomorrow’s solutions with them, to support research and innovation in diabetology. In this perspective, this innovative structure is fully in line with the essential purpose of the Fédération: to improve the care and quality of life of patients.
The Luxembourg Institute of Health (LIH) is a cutting-edge public biomedical research institute. Drawing on its extensive expertise in public health, oncology, infectious and immunological diseases, and banking and processing of biological samples, the Institute pursues its commitment to public health through its research activities. At the LIH, over 350 employees are devoted to generating knowledge on human disease mechanisms, developing innovative therapies and effective tools promoting personalized medicine. The Institute is the major provider of public health information in Luxembourg, a reliable partner for cooperation on local and international projects, and a valued training facility for researchers in their early stage careers.