The update states that, if you hear a crackling noise or resistence when depressing the plunger of the fill syringe, you should discard the pod and use a new one - using the defective pod could result in under-delivery of insulin.
You should contact Insulet if you've had any problems.
While at the New England diabetes picnic last weekend I talked with two people who were using OmniPods. They're both very happy with it and in real life the 'pod' doesn't seem to present too many problems.
I'd love to try one out, but I think I'm going to wait until the unit's size (form factor) is smaller. Hopefully Insulet is already working on that.
ABC News (GMA) confuses type 1 and type 2 diabetes - again
Today's Good Morning America program had a segment on cutting the risk of Type 2 diabetes.
But they forget to point out exactly WHICH type of diabetes (there are 3 main types) they were talking about. Has ABC forgotten to check even the BASIC facts?
It seems that US news media constantly makes the mistake. Type 2 diabetes is the most common form of diabetes but it's NOT the only one.
Folks, like myself, with type 1 diabetes are then told by folks that we are to blame for our disease. Or that we can 'prevent' it by simply exercising.
What's even worse is that they tried to cover up their mistake by changing the associated text piece to make it clear there they were talking about type 2 diabetes.
I wish they'd consider doing a real piece on type 1 diabetes.
Maybe they could talk about how this disease is being treated in essentially the same way it was when insulin was first extracted in 1922. Or how this disease is sometimes treated as a disability by companies when they're hiring, but then not treated as a disability for the purposes of the Americans with Disabilities Act.
I'd love to see Good Morning America actually talk about the mistake they made and then combine it with a story about type 1 diabetes and its tolls and costs.
Come on ABC News let's have some real coverage of this serious disease.
At the end of April I posted about the Dexcom Open Choice model. I was fortunate to get a loaner model for a short while. Since then I've been waiting impatiently to get the software update.
Dexcom had been offering a new system for an upgrade price. But I really didn't want to spend even more money on my third system upgrade in 15 months. Yes each of these have introduced useful new features, but knowing that they were going to allow you to upgrade for free made me want to wait. Apparently the delay was in getting FDA approval to allow this type of home update for an existing device.
Last week Dexcom contacted me and asked me to try out their software update process. They sent me two CDs with a new system manual and a new version of their DM system software. The upgrade also came with several pieces of paper including an important letter from Dexcom marketing with several steps that you need to complete before starting. I cover those below.
In a nutshell, the software update works well. I am now the owner of a Dexcom Open Choice model and I've switched to the WaveSense Keynote meter full-time. Goodnight OneTouch and the terrible cable (meant to sound like Goodnight Moon). From start to finish the whole process took about 15 minutes, including the download of about 3 weeks of reading from my receiver.
Dexcom marketing has told me that they're going to send upgrade kits to Dexcom Seven customers in order of purchase. Those of you who first bought the Seven will get these first, and folks who bought in February will get them last. They're going to send a letter out next week explaining the process.
There are a few gotchas to this update and I'll explain these as I show you some of the upgrade screens below. I'd recommend reading to the end of this post before starting.
You should:
Download all the readings from your receiver (it'll save time later).
Get the transmitter serial number from the receiver screen that's used to change it. It will be something like JTJLR, and you can see it without changing it. During the software upgrade process your receiver is completely reset. So you'll have to re-enter this number. You'll also have to restart your sensor, or change to a new one.
Make sure your receiver is fully charged. There are dire warnings about disconnecting during the upgrade and the process does drain the batteries some. If your receiver battery went dead in the middle of the update I think this would be a bad thing.
You'll have to connect to the internet to do the update. As part of the upgrade Dexcom gives you a keycode that you'll enter to get the new software. The value is similar to 2ABD-E512-3210 (this is not valid).
When you install the new version of the DM software and run it, there's now a new option under Tools menu in the upper right.
After you connect your receiver the update process starts and you'll see a screen with six steps on it, you cannot disconnect your receiver until all steps are completed.
At step 3 you're prompted to enter the code and the new receiver software is brought to your PC.
You can then download all your data readings from the receiver or just skip this step if you're downloaded beforehand
The receiver update then starts.
Several minutes later the update is done and you now have an Open Choice Dexcom model.
You'll need to re-enter the transmitter serial number and insert a new sensor (Dexcom's advice) or just restart the one you're using (my advice). After the usual 2-hour startup period you can now calibrate using whatever meter you wish. My YouTube video shows how this is done (skip forward to about 3:10).
I did this update five days ago and I've been using my restarted sensor since then. Being able to calibrate with the meter of my choice is a wonderful feature, but I've even more excited that Dexcom can now issue future software changes that we can make at home.
Note: I currently own shares in Dexcom. I try to make sure this ownership doesn't influence what I say about their products and technology.
Vista Therapeutics has licensed some Harvard University technology that uses nanowires to look for proteins in your blood. These are small wires, about 10,000 could fit inside a hollow human hair.
According to TR this is initially targeted at inpatient use and it's very early in development. Eventually they may be able to create implantable glucose sensing devices...but don't hold your breath.
I stumbled across the Pharma 2.0 blog recently after getting a Google News alert about a posting there.
Bunny's post is about the influence that certain key people (patient opinion leaders) have on others. In her post, she explains
These are individuals who are well-versed on their disease and are influencing thousands of others with their writing. I’m not saying that KOL’s (Key Opinion Leaders, usually refers to physicians) are on the wane, but industry should start paying more attention to this new generation of influencer.
She lists several well-known bloggers and me. I can't really think of myself as in the same league as the rest, so I'm grateful for the compliment.
I have to agree with her. For someone living with a chronic disease I'm much more influenced by what I learn from friends online and in real life. That's because their experiences are based on the tricks they've learned from managing this irritating condition.
Doctors and CDEs are important, however unless they also have diabetes they can only advise and guide based on the experience they've had in dealing with hundreds of patients and in their study and reading. I don't trivialize any of this, but living with the disease does give an empathy and connection that can't always be appreciated.
Medtronic clearly sees a lot of revenue potential in future devices. According to Reuters, they are planning to spend 35% more this year on their next generation of diabetes devices. According to the article they want to make these
simpler to use and more effective in managing the disease
I do hope they also consider other design aspects like the fun factor and how they look. Ease of use is definitely important, but I'd also like a device package that doesn't necessarily look like another mobile phone. I'd also like to move away from the Henry Ford-like approach to diabetes devices. "You can have that in any color as long as it's black or blue".
As a long-time Minimed pump user, I moved to a Cozmo last year because I just didn't see any innovation in what Minimed were doing. The design of the sensor for their CGMS is just plain ugly and way too large.
Do you want proof? See klil's picture from the Diabetes 365 project. How did they manage to make something this big? Have they checked out what Dexcom managed to do?
Despite my cynicism, I think this commitment from Minimed is a good thing. They're the big dog of diabetes devices and if their additional spending produces innovative designs, it's a sure thing that competitors and start-up companies will take up the challenge.
While I'm talking about device design, I hope you've had a chance to see Amy's post about the recent DiabetesMine design contest.
The Diabetes Technology Blog is focused on using technology to life better with diabetes. I review: blood glucose monitors; continuous glucose monitor; blood sugar meters; diabetes software and living with diabetes.
About Me
Name: Bernard Farrell
Location: Massachusetts, United States
I was born in Ireland and now live in the US.
I have had Type 1 diabetes for over 35 years. I struggle with my blood sugar, the same as most people with diabetes.
I wear a Cozmo 1800 insulin pump and a Dexcom SEVEN CGM to track my blood glucose levels. I also take Symlin to help control my post-meal blood sugars.
I'm blessed by God, and every day brings the possibility of a cure.
