Diabetic Support

Diabetic Support HUMBLE Technologies administers a much-needed dose of innovation

AS A TEENAGER HELPING TO CARE FOR HIS DIABETIC GRANDFATHER, BIOMEDICAL ENGINEERING ALUMNUS BIEN GUTIERREZ LEARNED FIRSTHAND THAT THE SYRINGES USED TO ADMINISTER INSULIN COULD BE MORE USER-FRIENDLY. That experience led him to establish HUMBLE Technologies with co-founders Wendy Nguyen, Krissa Tassin, Chad Bishop and Xiantong Yang. The company’s unique design allows syringe users to ensure proper dosing, purge air bubbles and prime injections more easily than by using traditional syringes.

BASED ON AN ARTICLE BY ETHAN PEREZ, UCI BEALL APPLIED INNOVATION

According to a recent report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, there are roughly 2 million Americans living with Type 1 diabetes, which requires daily injections of insulin. HUMBLE Technologies seeks to reduce risk to patients and alleviate the fear associated with those injections. “The experience of being a 14-year-old and not having anywhere to turn to for help – I think that story happens a lot more often in the real world than people may think,

“ I felt that knowing what I know,maybe I can help. ”

especially in low-income neighborhoods,” said Gutierrez, the company’s CEO. “I felt that knowing what I know, maybe I can help.”

But work on the HUMBLE syringe did not begin right away. Gutierrez first shared his idea for the syringe when he and Nguyen, who is now HUMBLE Technologies chief operating officer, were undergraduates. Neither was interested in the projects available in their senior biomedical engineering design class, so Nguyen pushed

Gutierrez to develop his own idea.

“Instead of spending time working on someone else’s project, why don’t

you work on that?” said Nguyen, recalling her conversation with Gutierrez.

Since then, the startup has participated in several entrepreneurship programs and has placed in numerous competitions, including the Samueli School’s Beall Student Design Competition. HUMBLE Technologies is continuing to develop its intellectual property and has its sights set on FDA 510(k) approval.

The company is not stopping at syringes, however; it aims to position itself as an innovator of medical tools and devices that need upgrades to better meet the needs of an ever-changing health care landscape.

“The big message I want to send out there about my product is this: Someone out there is thinking about health care transitions and support is coming,” said Gutierrez.

BME Discovery Traditional syringes, like the one pictured, can intimidate those with diabetes, causing them not to comply with their medication schedules. The founders of HUMBLE Technologies are developing an alternative that reduces patient risks and helps alleviate user fears.