Hemoglobin A1C Educational Kit

The Hemoglobin A1C Educational Kit contains physical models of the Hemoglobin (Hb) and Hemoglobin A1C (HbA1C) proteins, created from X-ray crystallography data-sets of the actual proteins. Our kit is designed to bring awareness to a common blood test given to every single diabetic, the Hemoglobin A1C test. We believe that every American at risk of diabetes should know their most recent A1C score and have developed an educational kit to address this issue. When used by Diabetes Educators, Physicians, Nurses, or people with living with Type 1 and 2 diabetes, our interactive educational kit can help explain the effects of prolonged elevated blood sugar on proteins throughout the body. It can provide patients and healthcare professionals with a visual metaphor to better understand A1C test scores, as well as help patients/educators set new A1C goals to achieve during their next A1C blood test. Each kit will be accompanied by supplemental educational material and 3D animations created by Steffen Visual Effects. www.steffenfx.com

On the left in the first image above is Hemoglobin. Each spherical structure represents the position of an atom. Hemoglobin is 55 Angstrom in diameter and made up of 4659 atoms. These 4 inch models are approximately 18.5 Million times larger than their actual size. Isolated in red are the protein's HEME Groups (x4), the functional units of Hemoglobin that transport Oxygen molecules (x4) throughout the body and give blood its red color. On the right is Hemoglobin A1C. Attached are glucose molecules (x16 purple), the result of prolonged periods of elevated blood sugar levels.