For most parents, sending a young child off to school means packing a lunch, checking a backpack, and making sure they get on the bus.

For parents of children with Type 1 diabetes, the checklist can be much longer. The worry doesn’t necessarily end when the school day begins.

Managing diabetes is a 24/7 responsibility. During school hours, a child’s glucose levels can change because of meals, snacks, physical activity, stress, and other factors. Younger children may not yet recognize the signs that their glucose is rising or falling, much less be able to manage testing and other aspects of their diabetes care on their own.

That means parents must rely on a coordinated network of school nurses, teachers, and other trained staff to help monitor their child throughout the day. Even with a strong diabetes management plan in place, there can be phone calls, glucose checks, decisions about insulin and, in some cases, a parent needing to become involved during the school day.

It’s a challenge the team behind isaac by PreEvnt understands on a very personal level.

isaac was inspired by inventor Bud Wilcox’s grandson, Isaac, who was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes at just 2 years old. Bud saw firsthand the frequent finger pricks his grandson endured and the impact diabetes management had on Isaac’s mother and the rest of the family.

He began looking for a better way.

The result is isaac, a small, noninvasive glucose alert device being developed to use a person’s breath to identify changes associated with rising blood glucose levels. Instead of a finger prick, a user simply breathes into the watch-sized device.

For parents of young children, the potential is significant.

isaac is designed to work with a mobile app that records readings and can send alerts to designated contacts by text or email. That could provide parents and caregivers with another source of timely information about a child’s glucose while reducing the frequency of finger-prick testing. The app is also designed to track results over time and create reports that can be shared with parents, caregivers, and physicians.

It doesn’t replace a child’s diabetes management plan, trained school personnel, or insulin when it is needed. Instead, isaac is being developed to make one important part of diabetes management- understanding what is happening with glucose levels- simpler, less invasive, and easier to share.

For parents accustomed to spending the school day wondering whether their child’s glucose is rising, that information could provide something incredibly valuable: greater connection and peace of mind, even when their child is miles away.

isaac by PreEvnt is currently undergoing continued development, clinical validation, and FDA review and is not available for sale in the United States.