The European race against diabetes runs from Brussels to Barcelona to produce a clinical study

• The athletes reached Montjuïc today after a team monitored the vital signs of a good number of the riders throughout the race – the mHealth Grand Tour – as part of a study on diabetes and sports.
• Mobile technology has made it possible to capture data from cyclists using devices installed on their bikes and linked to their phones.
• As the world capital of mobile technologies, Barcelona will receive the baton passed by the riders, building upon their efforts through the implementation of solutions for diabetes patients at its Mobile World Capital mHealth competence center.

September 18, 2013

Barcelona’s mayor, representatives of Mobile World Capital Barcelona, GSMA, and the European Diabetes Federation were on hand today at the Mies van der Rohe Pavilion on the mountain of Montjuïc to welcome some 100 cyclists who had departed from Brussels.

For over 2,100 km 36 of these cyclists, this group – 30 diabetic and the rest non-diabetic – participated in a clinical study “on wheels.” The cyclists provided data, such as their vital signs and blood glucose levels, which was gathered by devices installed on their bicycles, with the athletes themselves able to check it on their mobile phones.

A medical team will now proceed to analyze the data in order to carry out a clinical study on the impact of exercise on those affected by diabetes before releasing their conclusions to the medical community. Current estimates indicate that the application of mobile technologies can foster healthy lifestyles, preventing 5 million European citizens from developing diabetes.

The arrival of the mHealth Grand Tour to Barcelona will serve to bolster the Mobile World Capital Barcelona mHealth competence center, which promotes “mobile health”: those health-related practices that may be facilitated by the use of mobile devices, such as patient monitoring, clinical data collection, the taking of vital signs, and medical records management.