Hygieia Receives Notice of Allowance for Key Patent Covering Diabetes Insulin Guidance System (DIGS™)

ANN ARBOR, Mich., Jan. 14, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Hygieia, Inc. today announced receipt of a Notice of Allowance from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office for core patent claims broadly covering the company's Diabetes Insulin Guidance System (DIGS™) technology. The patent application entitled "System for Optimizing a Patient's Insulin Dosage Regimen" relates to Hygieia's unique methods of automatically adjusting a diabetic patient's insulin dosage as needed to achieve a better glycemic balance of lowered hemoglobin A1C, as well as reduced hypoglycemia frequency.

"DIGS™ is the first technology to uniquely provide insulin users with the means to attain good blood glucose control along with the important safety requirement of avoiding hypoglycemia," said Eran Bashan, Hygieia's Chief Executive Officer. "This patent allowance greatly strengthens Hygieia's commercial position and boosts our roll out efforts in the United Kingdom, where our d-Nav™ Diabetes Insulin Guidance System product is currently available."

In Fall 2012, the d-Nav Diabetes Insulin Guidance System, Hygieia's first commercial product to incorporate DIGS technology, was granted a CE Mark, and the South Eastern Health and Social Care Trust's Ulster Hospital diabetes centre in Belfast, Northern Ireland led by Dr. Roy Harper, began using d-Nav with its patients. This month, The Heart of England Foundation Trust began using d-Nav at the Heartlands Hospital diabetes centre in Birmingham, under the direction of Prof. Martin Stevens.

About Hygieia, Inc.

Hygieia, Inc. is a diabetes health care company founded in Ann Arbor, Michigan to commercialize its proprietary Diabetes Insulin Guidance System (DIGS™) technology. Hygieia's first handheld medical device, the d-Nav™ Diabetes Insulin Guidance System, is designed to improve diabetes care delivery. d‑Nav™ makes it feasible for millions of insulin users to be more effectively and efficiently treated. Hygieia's d-Nav™ is now available to patients in select UK diabetes centres. Visit http://www.hygieia.com or email [email protected] for more information.

The US Food and Drug Administration has neither approved nor cleared the d-Nav™ Diabetes Insulin Guidance System for distribution in the United States.

SOURCE Hygieia, Inc.