Thursday 17 May 2012

Fantasy Diabetes Device ~ D Blog Week, Day 4



Today let’s tackle an idea inspired by Bennet of Your Diabetes May Vary.  Tell us what your Fantasy Diabetes Device would be?  Think of your dream blood glucose checker, delivery system for insulin or other meds, magic carb counter, etc. The sky is the limit – what would you love to see?

If we're talking all out fantasy, the my dream is a no-brainer. I want a cure. Plain and simple, no fancy bells and whistles, just a straight up cure. Technology is great, and I love Dylan's pump, but a cure would be so much nicer.

If we're talking technological device that will help Dylan to have better diabetes management then a closed loop system is what I want. Medtronic, one of the world's leading diabetes management companies, is currently in the process of designing a closed loop system. What is a closed loop system, you might ask? In a nutshell, it is a diabetes management tool that operates without requiring active input from the user. It is a insulin pump and continuous glucose monitoring system that, based on a series of preset algorithms and user specific data, delivers and adjusts insulin automatically. Essentially, it is a machine that does what the pancreas is supposed to do, but doesn't, in a type 1 diabetic.

Are we close to this kind of technology? Not really, but we're on our way. The Medtronic VEO, available in Canada and the United Kingdom, is an insulin pump and CGM system with a built-in low glucose suspension feature. This means that if the user's blood glucose level falls below a pre-set threshold, the pump will automatically suspend insulin delivery for 2 hours, possibly preventing hypoglycemia. The 2 hour suspension can be overridden by the user too, restoring the pump to regular delivery with the press of a button. To read more about the Medtronic VEO, click here. And to find out more about when a similar system may be available in the United States, click here.


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