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There are more than 3 million people in the UK living with diabetes and a new gadget has been invented to make their lives easier.

Insulin Angel is the brainchild of two men: Amin Zayani, who suffers from Type 1 diabetes himself and Steve Miller, whose son is also a Type 1 diabetic.

It's a small plastic gizmo that looks a bit like a key fob and pairs with a phone to help sufferers keep track of the vital insulin they need to take regularly to stay alive.

The Insulin Angel contains both a proximity sensor and a temperature sensor, able to alert diabetics if they leave their medication somewhere or if the insulin gets too hot or too cold to work effectively.

The sensor is designed to be left inside the medication bag. If the patient leaves the bag behind somewhere, they'll get a notification on their smartphone.

Type 1 diabetes affects young people and occurs when the pancreas doesn't produce any insulin of its own. Insulin is the hormone responsible for regulating the level of glucose in a person's blood.

"It massively impacted our lives," said co-founder Steve Miller, who's son Johnny was diagnosed at age two.

"We have to check his blood sugar levels twenty times a day. And we do everything manually, either physically injecting it or giving him something sugar-based to bring blood levels up," he told Mirror Online.

"It's never-ending and my wife is up every night, sometimes three times a night, to check."

If it's being used by a child, the Insulin Angel can also send notifications to parents' smartphones if the child accidentally leaves their medication somewhere.

"My son forgets his stuff four or five times a month. this is for us. This will be a massive stress reducer, because you tend to forget it when you're in a hurry," said Miller.

And while having a temperature sensor on board isn't a huge issue in a moderate climate like the UK, co-founder Amin Zayani hails from Tunisia, where temperature can be a big issue when storing medication.

Insulin, like other medication, needs to be kept at a certain temperature to be effective and Miller and Zayani have plans for their invention to be used around the world.

Launching on crowdfunding site Indiegogo today, the pair are hoping to raise their $55,000 (£37,000) target in 30 days and deliver the Insulin Angel by August 2015.

"We created Insulin Angel because there was nothing out there that works in quite the same way – and we hope that, thanks to Indiegogo, we will be able to reduce some of the anxiety that surrounds the condition," said Zayani.

"Backers also have the option to nominate a school, hospital, community or charity to donate units to, which hopefully opens this project out to anyone and everyone who would benefit from this technology.”

The gadget itself will retail for $50 (£33) if it successfully launches later this year.