Teen Creates Fashionable, Durable Diabetes Tape
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- A University of St. Thomas freshman is not waiting for her college degree to pave her own career path.
Meghan Sharkus launched her medical adhesive company called ExpressionMed last year.
The 19 year old came up with the idea after seeing the impact that diabetes has had on close friends.
"Having choice in an area where you don't feel like you have a lot of choice is really important," Sharkus said.
The product is designed to keep wearable medical devices, like insulin or glucose monitors, attached to the body.
"They're tapes that go over wearable medical devices to hold them in place," Sharkus said.
When developing her product, Sharkus wanted to incorporate a fun look with unique shapes. The large stickers take the shape of footballs, soccer balls, hearts and animals -- and she has more patterns in the works.
"When it's something you have to wear every day, for years and years and years, you want to mix it up," she said. "When you pick out clothes, you can pick out your device design."
Along with the design, she also wanted to address a common problem for patients who struggled to keep the device in place.
"Sixty percent of people who stop using these devices do so because the tape doesn't stay on," Sharkus said.
She worked with a local, major adhesive manufacturer to create the product. Sharkus holds a design and utility patent for a product that can stay on for weeks -- through water or any outdoor activities.
"It stays on nice. You can scratch at it and move it and it's not going to come up. And when you remove it, it comes up and no problems," Sharkus said. "This adhesive is high quality. It's a super-thin adhesive that moves with you."
Six months since her product first hit the market, Sharkus is already looking to grow to meet demand, setting her down a career path years before graduation
"The reaction to this line of products have been crazy," she said. "Starting this now instead of five years from now is going to help a whole generation of kids that are living with this."
Click here to learn more about the product, or to help Sharkus continue to grow her business.
