Abbott Diabetes Care announced today the launch of its FreeStyle Lite™ blood glucose monitoring system for people with diabetes after receiving a 510(k) clearance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. The new FreeStyle Lite system has an innovative automatic calibration feature that eliminates the manual coding step usually required by most blood glucose meters before starting a new vial of test strips. The easy-to-use FreeStyle Lite meter allows people with diabetes to test quickly and more easily. "FreeStyle Lite is a welcome new tool for diabetes self-management. The small sample size and automatic calibration makes it easier for patients to test quickly, comfortably and accurately," said Jane Jeffrie Seley, MPH, MSN, NP, CDE, a diabetes nurse practioner with NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center. The FreeStyle Lite system provides rapid, accurate blood glucose results in an average of just five seconds and offers virtually pain-free testing due to the very small blood sample size (0.3 microliter) required, a drop about the size of a pin head. The meter is small in size, yet has a large, high contrast display and a backlight for easy, on-the-go testing. Similar to other meters in Abbott's FreeStyle® line, the FreeStyle Lite system allows people with diabetes to test on alternate parts of the body such as the forearm, thigh and palm, instead of having to use sensitive finger tips. "FreeStyle Lite, Abbott's newest blood glucose meter, exemplifies Abbott's innovative approach to blood glucose testing and our commitment to making diabetes-related technology easier to use for people with diabetes," said Chip Hance, senior vice president, Diabetes Care Operations, Abbott. The FreeStyle Lite system employs an Abbott technology exclusive to all FreeStyle meters based on coulometric measurement. This unique, patented, electrochemical technology makes it ideal for measuring a small blood sample size. Coulometric technology has already been used by people with diabetes worldwide in more than two billion blood glucose tests using FreeStyle blood glucose strips. The FreeStyle Lite blood glucose monitoring system will be available in the United States beginning in May 2007. About Abbott Diabetes Care Abbott Diabetes Care, based in Alameda, California, is a worldwide leader in developing, manufacturing and marketing glucose monitoring systems designed to help patients better manage their diabetes. Abbott Diabetes Care is committed to developing products to reduce the discomfort and inconvenience of blood glucose monitoring and introducing systems that are easier to use, require smaller blood samples and provide faster results. Abbott Diabetes Care has several leading-edge glucose monitoring systems and test strips in the United States for use in both home and hospital settings; leading brands include FreeStyle Lite™, FreeStyle Flash®, FreeStyle Freedom® and Precision Xtra™. Additional information about Abbott Diabetes Care may be found at