Diabetes management tools just got a step closer to medical device interoperability.

A few hours after news broke that A&D Medical's Bluetooth-enabled blood pressure cuff and Bluetooth-enabled weight scale had received Continua Health Alliance's stamp of interoperability, the organization announced that Roche Diagnostics' Accu-Chek Smart Pix Device Reader, which currently interfaces with blood glucose meters and insulin pumps to transfer data from the devices to the user's computer, gained Continua certification for USB connectivity.

The Smart Pix device connects to the computer with a USB cord but it interacts with the medical devices via infrared. Once the data transfers to the computer a report appears in the user's default Internet browser to be saved later, printed out or simply viewed on screen. Roche says the system helps diabetics make timely and well-informed decisions about day-to-day self-care.

While the Roche announcement is not a wireless health move, some of Roche Diagnostics' educational software under the Accu-Chek umbrella has been included in MYLEstone Health's popular iPhone application, Glucose Buddy. Roche is also on Continua Health Alliance's board of directors, so clearly it is carefully putting together the necessary components for a robust suite of wireless health products.

For more on Roche's Continua announcement, visit the Continua site here.