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Handhelds Hardware Technology

Designing Diabetes Gear? 101

Posted by Cliff from the blood-sugar-determination-should-not-be-a-pain dept.
Joe asks: "I'm a grad student studying medical product design. My thesis work is being done on devices used in the monitoring and treatment of Diabetes. I'd like to solicit feedback from the Slashdot community regarding the state of the art in the field. Are you a Type One who loves the OneTouch UltraSmart, or a Type Two that swears by the multi-strip AccuCheck Compact? My goal is to develop products that meet the varied needs of diabetics, in a manner closer to the iPod, rather than the current products which resemble crappy 2-button Tiger electronics videogames. What features in these devices do you like and dislike?"
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Designing Diabetes Gear? More

Designing Diabetes Gear?

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  • BIG High Contrast Display Readout - Data Storage (Score:4, Interesting)

    by Unholy_Kingfish ( 614606 ) on Monday January 03, 2005 @11:38AM (#11244593) Homepage
    My father has adult onset and uses the One Touch. His degraded vision was one of the major problems he developed as a result. I know he has trouble seeing the LCD. Another problem is the loading of the tiny strips. I imagine the multi strip would be better for him, but he resists change and having to pay for it.

    If you are going for the cool stuff, a reader that store the results, timestamps them and can display graphs of the sugar levels would be a great tool for doctors. You can bring in the unit to the doctor and he/she can get all the information they need. Adding wireless or USB/Firewire connectivity would let the doctor download the data file directly.

    • The Accu-Chek Complete [accu-chek.com] from Roche Diagnostics has most of the features you ask for, with the exception of wireless and/or USB/Firewire.

      It does feature a 19,200 baud serial port, so it's faster than most wired meters (most are 9600 baud). It is their geek's choice of meters.

      Most doctor's offices already have the software and cables necessary to download and review their patient's data. Similar software and cables are available (and included with Complete) for consumers to use at home.
    • If you are going for the cool stuff, a reader that store the results, timestamps them and can display graphs of the sugar levels would be a great tool for doctors.

      The Onetouch UltraSmart does this, though on the tiny screen it's difficult to make things out. The info can be downloaded via a serial cable and then printed out, much more readable. USB would be much easier, though.

  • Implants and tattoos (Score:5, Insightful)

    by cmaxx ( 7796 ) on Monday January 03, 2005 @11:53AM (#11244753)
    Implants constantly monitoring blood chemical levels and reporting to your PDA would be kinda nice.

    A tattoo on your arm that responds chromatically to insulin, sugar, etc. etc. levels in the blood and that could be read by something like a barcode reader would be good. Doesn't even have to be visible to humans, just the machines.

    The whole puncturing yourself to get at real actual blood thing is Not Good(tm).

  • Insight (Score:5, Interesting)

    by iawia ( 9172 ) on Monday January 03, 2005 @12:02PM (#11244858) Homepage
    I'm a type 1 diabetic, using a disetronic d-tron pump and a disetronic freestyle blood tester.

    One thing I've noticed is that though I test regularly, I only create overviews of test results every now and then. Those overview are important to gain insight in how well I'm regulated, though, so I should do that more often.

    Now the blood-test device has a serial cable link to my computer (linked to windows-only software, unfortunately), so I can load all the past results on my laptop (the only machine in the house that has windows installed), and create a few nice looking graphs.

    The D-Tron pump actually has an infra-red port, but for some reason no software has been released to actually make use of that. This is a shame, since my glucose-level graphs would gain a lot from the extra data of my pump's insulin extrusion.

    Then there's the additional data that can be very useful when reviewing blood glucose levels, such as 'right after a hypo', or 'ate too much ice-cream', or '1hr prolonged bolus to compensate for pasta', and such. The only way to store that, a the moment, is good old fashioned paper. Which means that I often don't...

    So for me a good device would:
    • Allow me to store either free text, or some pre-defined tag, along with the glucose-level values. (or voice tags?)
    • Allow for ease transfer of data to the PC (and preferably not just in a windows-only proprietary interface. I want to be able to load stuff into a spreadsheet and such...)
    • Allow me to read my pump data, though that is a software issue, not for the device you'll be working on

    Other things that are appreciated are: small size, inclusion of the finger-pricking thingy in the same package, being able to load a set of control-strips, backlight for checking in the dark, NO SOUND option (my wife is sleeping next to me, and I don't want to wake her just because I want to check my blood sugar).

    The freestyle also allows one to check from blood on the arm, instead of the finger. This is significantly less painfull, so encourages checking. It also lags a bit; The values from the finger will be more up-to-date than those from the arm, so it's not good for when you feel a hypo coming up. Still, a good feature.

    • Re:Insight (Score:4, Informative)

      by Andy Dodd ( 701 ) <atd7NO@SPAMcornell.edu> on Monday January 03, 2005 @03:30PM (#11247042) Homepage
      Type 1 here, no pump.

      I've used three meters in my life:

      The One Touch II (a classic, and for a long time THE meter used by diabetics.) Big, clunky, single-strip design.

      Glucometer Dex (There is a Dex II now, I can't see what the difference is.)

      Accu-Check Compact

      I would never use the One Touch again - Lifescan still has no cartridge-based meters, and being able to load the meter with multiple strips is REALLY nice.

      The Glucometer was a damn nice meter. 10 strips per cartridge (they were the first company to release a cartridge-based meter), you could order the interface cable for free and their software (WinGlucofacts) was pretty nice, and it was free (free as in beer, that is) too.

      The Accu-Chek Compact is also really nice.
      Pros: IR data transfer
      17 strips per cartridge
      Formulary with my insurance company. That's $30 per strip refill. (You'll see a common theme that the insurance company dictates what type of insulin/meter you use to some degree. Although I'm using a Novo Nordisk insulin pen with Novo cartridges because there are no pens for Lilly insulins that dispense half-unit increments anymore.)
      AA batteries - the button cells in the Dex were annoying.
      Form factor and carrying case make it great to put in a jacket pocket for a night out.
      Adjustable puncture depth lancet device. (The other meters had this too but you had to change tips to do so.)

      Cons:
      Battery holder is loose. I often find myself having to push the batteries back in. Meter loses its time frequently because of this and has to reset the drum. The "find next unused drum slot" feature is nice in cases where you accidentally take the batteries out for too long or accidentally hit the cartridge chamber release.
      Cartridge chamber is too easy to unlatch, and comes unlatched often just by removing the meter from its case.
      No open protocol documentation, software is $30 and may be rigged to only work with their external serial-to-IR adapter instead of a normal serial IRDA port (they do not mention IRDA ports at all, they ALWAYS try to sell their $30 adapter even though I know the meter can speak to a normal IRDA port.) There are protocol dumps linked to from the Zaurus User Group forums, I think the "off-topic" section. I wrote a Perl script from those dumps, it's posted to those forums.
      Form factor of the meter/case is good for a night on the town but not as good for extended trips. The Dex case had lots of extra pockets for pen needles, extra lancets, etc. and was very flat. The Compact case has no extra pockets, just an elastic band to hold a spare test strip drum and one to hold the lancet device.
      Lancet device is not compatible with half the lancets on the market, including my personal favorite, the B-D Ultra Fine. Most lancet devices have a round holder that can also hold "flat" lancets via a friction fit. The Accu-Chek lancet device can only hold "flat" type lancets, not round ones like the B-Ds.

      The Compact also allows "alternative site" testing (i.e. not the finger) but has so many restrictions on when you can do it (see parent posts' mention of lag in the reading) that I never bother.

      Don't try to go too fancy. People say they will want it, but so far every attempt at a meter that "does everything" (onboard statistics/data collection) has bombed. Non-invasive testing is a VERY desirable feature, but so far no one has succeeded in making an accurate NI meter that wasn't more trouble than it was worth. (The Glucowatch was expensive, known for causing skin irritation, and not very accurate. Due to the skin irritation, people preferred the occasional pinprick, which with a good lancet and properly adjusted lancet device depth, you barely feel.)

      My advice: Try and convince Lilly and Novo Nordisk to bring back their 1.5 mL pen cartridges. Pens for 3 mL carts such as my new NovoPen Junior are fucking huge. :(

  • Type Two that swears by the multi-strip AccuCheck (Score:5, Informative)

    by LWATCDR ( 28044 ) on Monday January 03, 2005 @12:03PM (#11244866) Homepage Journal
    This is the one I use. Frankly who cares about style? The main thing is cost. I am lucky and my insurance pays for most of my cost of strips but I know some people that even with insurance have a hard time making ends meet. It needs to be acurite, reliable, and cheap. The cheaper it is the more people can afford to test and the better control they will have over their blood sugar. Reliable means they can use the same meter for a long period of time. I so do not care about what it looks like. A back light on the screen might be nice for those with failing vision. Open specs on the dumping system so open source can make FREE tracking software to help keep the cost down as well.
    BTW I would recommend that most slashdoters get there blood sugar checked at least once a year. Some of the risk factors are over weight, are not very active, have a waist size greater then 38", eat crap, and being a member of one of these racial groups , Native American, Hispanic, Asian, or African American.
    I was over weight, and Native American and even though I was right at 38" I won the lotto and got it. Another big risk factor is if it runs in your family the problem is that it might run in your family and you might never know it. It is a sneaky thing.

  • Simple is better (Score:5, Interesting)

    by bhima ( 46039 ) <Bhima.Pandava@DE ... com minus distro> on Monday January 03, 2005 @12:07PM (#11244904) Journal
    A few years ago I worked on a team that developed a complex blood glucose device, sort of like the one you described yourself interested in developing but the market just wouldn't bear it, so it was canceled. The only thing the market will tolerate is nearly cost free and designed so the criminally stupid can use it. Forget graphs, forget statistics, forget all of it. If you can figure out how to do it without any buttons so much the better, it's a shame we can't eliminate the user entirely. Do keep data storage and data transfer, because if there is a larger group of (walking free) self delusional pathological liars than diabetics, I'm not aware of it. It's not that I hate diabetics I just hate the devil inside them. (If my sister is reading this she knows I am talking about her too!)

    And I suppose since you're interested in doing this to begin with you already know that there are some very big and very predatory players in that market who tolerate competition less than Microsoft and are significantly less friendly. Still it's a great technology to get started with, it's very easy implement and there is a large market.

    Fair disclosure: I work for one of those big companies who may either sue you out of existence or buy you so the world can forget about you.

    • That's BS. I happen to know one fellow who has created 2 test strip/monitor companies and sold them both 10 years apart, the last for over a billion. If you have a good idea find some money people and run with it. The market is huge.
    • because if there is a larger group of (walking free) self delusional pathological liars than diabetics, I'm not aware of it. It's not that I hate diabetics I just hate the devil inside them.

      Sorry, but I have to jump in the side of your sister here. It's about the 50th time your doctor states that your blood glucose control is, "only fair, and needs to be better," that you decide that lying about your levels is less stressful all around.

      True, by doing so we hurt no-one but ourselves, but the disease is so

  • T1, UltraSmart (Score:3, Interesting)

    by Violet Null ( 452694 ) on Monday January 03, 2005 @12:16PM (#11244986)
    The UltraSmart is pretty good. Nice, highly readable. The backlight only comes on when you hold the button, so it saves on battery time. Those are all good things.

    Annoyances: Although it remembers the values used for previous days, it doesn't default them. Eg, if I take 2u Humalog and 8u NPH for breakfast on one day, it will use those values as the default for breakfast the next day, but it won't automatically select them; instead, I have to press the insulin button, add NPH, and add Humalog. Since the majority of the time I'm taking the same amount (or minor variation) of insulin each day, this is annoying.

    There's a serial cable to download the data, but it's Windows only. The charts and graphs that the app produces are nice, but I'd like the ability to be able to import them into the database of my choice, rather than having to open the Access file it generates. Also, the settings between the UltraSmart and the program are seperate; it doesn't transfer over (even one way) on the serial cable, which means I had to enter my ranges on the UltraSmart, and then again on the app.

    No numeric keypad. The Ultrasmart has the capability to record fat, carbohydrates, and protein entries, but it's a real PITA to enter the number "36" when you have to scroll to it (also, no way to enter exactly what it is that you ate, but a keyboard may be way too big). Hence, I don't use this feature at all, which is too bad.

  • diabetes watch (Score:3, Informative)

    by nuggetman ( 242645 ) on Monday January 03, 2005 @12:22PM (#11245035) Homepage
    there was a watch debuted about a year or two ago that read your blood sugar through your skin. however, it wasn't 100% accurate and recommended still doing your regular needle based sugar checks. i'm sure any innovations that can eliminate blood-based checking (and the loss of circulation to the fingers that goes with it) would be welcomed with open arms by the diabetes community.

  • My immediate family are all Type II. (Score:4, Interesting)

    by RainbearNJ ( 198510 ) on Monday January 03, 2005 @12:29PM (#11245113)
    My mother is blind due to diabetes-induced glaucoma. She is stuck using a crappy end-of-life'd One Touch Profile [lifescan.com], because all of the new, nifty meters can't be used by blind people (that is, there are no devices to help them guide the blood onto the strip, there are no voice boxes available, etc.). It's a serious issue that most of these companies (One Touch, Accuchek, Freestyle, etc.) never address. How many diabetics are blind, people? A good bunch. Why don't they design monitoring devices for their use too?

    Personally, I have a One Touch Ultra Smart [lifescan.com], and I love 90% of it. I hate the fact that I can't edit the labels for "Health" and "Exercise" for instance. I love the graphing. I love the capillary-action strips. The 5-second test time is amazingly convenient, as well.

    My dad uses an Accuchek [accuchek.com] of some variety--he swears by it, even though it takes 10x as long for him to get a reading than I do.

    I'd love to see something that has a built-in voice box for blind people (seriously, how hard would this be nowadays??). I'd love to see that same model allow them to use the newer capillary-action strips, as well.
    • Check again, there is an Accu-Chek brand meter for people with limited or no vision - it's called Voicemate [accu-chek.com]. It reads the barcode on insulin vials as well to make sure the patient has the right bottle.

      Also, I don't know of a single Accu-Chek meter that takes more than 30 seconds to give you a result - you must have a very fast meter.
    • I have a lengthy post below that details what I would want in a meter, one thing I mentioned is a mini-B usb port. These ports are able to act as devices and hosts. With this port you would be able to attach add-ons such as a voice box. Please take a look at my post for more details on this dream meter and post any more interesting ideas that it may inspire.

  • Type I - Use the Accu-Check, when I use it... (Score:5, Interesting)

    by Aboo ( 845876 ) on Monday January 03, 2005 @12:30PM (#11245137)
    I'd agree with the above poster who said Diabetics are mostly pathological liars, we are. Believe it or not, testing your blood sugar SUCKS. It hurts, I don't care if it's your finger or your arm. (By the way, 20 minutes ago isn't good enough for Humalog insulin, so arm testing is risky at best.) If you have a tester with an IR port, there IS software that will read and input the data, but you might need an M.D. to get it. My doctor has some really nice software for the Accu-Check, but as a "user" I'm only able to get a really really dumbed down version of it for 50 bucks from the manufacturer. >:( I don't like implants, which is why I don't pump. But if you can give me a way to test my sugar that doesn't hurt all the friggin' time, I'd use it. I like feeling good as much as the next guy, but being in pain my entire life just isn't worth it, to me. That's what I care about. With the technology and resources available today, there has got to be some way to remove the pain from treating this damn disease. At least until we can convince the Bible belt to allow continued research in stem-cell technology... But I think we'll have to destroy a lot of drug and equipment manufacturer's before that'll ever come about. :(
    • Hey man, honestly there's enough money in diabetes care to over come most objections to Any reasonable research. Don't think there isn't research ongoing in that direction and don't think there aren't Huge efforts in non-invasive blood glucose monitoring (actually non invasive blood anything monitoring) it's the holy grail and if you don't believe me just ask a nurse or a tech for another fetal blood gas sample.

      By the way, you don't have the same software the doctor's office has because the FDA has decreed

      • I'm assuming by "fetal blood gas" sample your refering to a blood gas from an unborn fetus? Man, I wouldn't wish that test done on my worst enemy. The third time they missed that sucker was the last time they've ever run that "test" on me. That is the most god awful pain in the world... and then "oops, missed, we gotta try again." Talk about being an unwilling "beta tester".
    • "I'd agree with the above poster who said Diabetics are mostly pathological liars, we are. Believe it or not, testing your blood sugar SUCKS. It hurts, I don't care if it's your finger or your arm."
      I do not get this statment about being pathological liars? Testing blood sugar does suck and it does hurt a little. Frankly I do not find it that bad better than going blind, kidney failure, or amputation. Frankly the giving up potatos and pasta.
      • I understand your questioning of my statement here... and not knowing where you come from or how long you've had this lovely disease and to what degree it effects you, I can't speak for you, only me. Personally, I get sick of every doctor I talk to telling me the "right" way to treat myself. When I see 10 a year and they all swear by different treatments/methods. I get sick of those same doctors telling me how ignorant or stubborn I am for not doing this, or insisting on doing this. (Usually things anoth
        • I am 39 as so far so good. I am new to this but by eye and kidney tests are good so far and They actually cutting back on my meds now. I am around 90 in the am and 75 in the evening. So far my doctors have told me that eveyone is dfferent and that I should next expect it to be perfect. Thanks for you insight and warning. I guess at this point I should just do the best I can and hope for the best.
      • Who knew there were so many diabetic geeks?
        I was diagnosed (type 1) when I was 28. One week, out of the blue, my eyesight got so bad that I couldn't read traffic signs. Not retinal damage, thank God - fluid displacement in the lens caused by a two-week blood glucose of around 550.

        It can be really hard to put your meter on the table before dinner with your family and friends and put a drop of blood on the strip. I don't mind the pain at all; but you get the feeling that every time you test around other p
      • I'm Type II. I have 2 meters which I never use, mainly because I can't stand sticking myself every day. Diabetes and heart disease run in the family ... When my grandfather was my age, he had been dead for 2 years. I'd just keep going until I keeled over, but I have 3 young kids and a (much) younger wife who would really miss me... shit! Time to give up the wine, desserts and actually pay some f*ing attention to my health. ... Sucks. -- Binayak.
    • I love how every time some hard medical problem comes up people start going off on stem-cell research, as if enough effort put forth in that one field will solve every health problem ever. I've got news for you: stem-cell research may help diabetes. It may help cancer. It may help AIDS. The thing is, it likely won't help all those diseases. Don't use the reduced amount of research taking place as a scapegoat for your disease du jour. The reason we have all these hard diseases to crack is all the eas

  • As an EMT... (Score:2, Interesting)

    by Anonymous Coward
    As an EMT, I'd love to see timestamped results with some sort of authenticity - it's burdensome enough to do all the paperwork, but it's all the more tedious trying to read the number you scrawled on your glove sometime between marking on scene and clear-available in district.

    And the form factor is all wrong, too - at least for the portables. The strips are too tiny, the glucometer device itself, too large and too circular. Of the hosts, the AccuCheck is the best, but it's got a lot of room for improveme
    • ALL test strips are temperature dependent. They should be stored with the meter so that the meter and the strips are as close to the same temp as possible.

      All strips have an allowable temperature range, which is printed on their container, if you bend a strip and it breaks you are outside of that range and the results are useless

      If the device had the back light and contrast you describe it would either weigh 5 kilos or have a battery life of 30 seconds. Which do you prefer?

  • All the features mentioned so far, Graphing, download to computer (preferable in an open format), and noting insulin ammounts are key to me as well.

    But the key "feature" I'd like to see is low cost test strips. When you have no insurance coverage the strips get expensive and tend to discourage regular testing.
    • agreed!. My roommate is a diabetic so I help him keep track of his diabetes. His meter only keeps readings for the past 14 days, so I record his doses on my pda. I also store his insulin doses on my pda so we both know when he has had his shot and how much. It has helped him more to a) test 2 times before he goes to bed, so he has an idea of which way his bloodsugar is going; b) its helped him by making sure he has gotton his shot.

      He is technically a type 1, but did not develop diabetes til he was abou

      • Oh, yeah I forgot to mention, I have over 3 years worth of his data, and graphing it is not something anyone needs in tester. Diabetics would more likely need to know their 14 day average, and their 6 week average. It would also be nice it there was a way to bring the 6 week avereage test that they doctors use when he goes to his checkups to a home test kit as well.
        • I agree that graphing is not needed in the tester really, but it would be handy sometimes. Mostly I just eneter my data into a custom php page and dump it to MySQL, then it makes pretty MRTG style graphs for me and is way more flexable than any software I've seen from the testers themselves. An open data transfer method from the testers would help greatly here as then I could automate the process.
          • Go to the Zaurus User Group forums (I think www.zaurususergroup.net), in the Off-Topic section there's a thread with data dumps of the Compact's protocol and a Perl script I wrote to dump the data. Right now it just prints time/date/reading to stdout, but it would be easy to modify to dump into a MySQL DB.
        • When you talk about the 6 week average i'm assuming you are talking about an A1C. You can get that test in a take home version at any drugstore. It's called an A1CNow [hometestmed.com]. Costa about 24 bucks, give you your A1C number (which is an average of the last 2-3 months), and is one use. Just give it a drop of blood and you get back your A1C. A lot easier than going to the Dr's to get blood drawn to check.

          A word of advice - just make sure that when you pick it up the pharmacist gets it out of the fridge. I heard they
    • Do you shave? Do you have a safety razor (I use a Mach 3)? Do you remember what you paid for your razor? Do you remember what you paid for the blades?

      Do I need to go further to explain to you why strips cost what they cost?

  • Unwrap that rascal! (Score:4, Interesting)

    by stuffduff ( 681819 ) on Monday January 03, 2005 @02:29PM (#11246295) Journal
    What is really hurting the meters IMHO is feature creep. What I'd be interested in is the equivalent of the open-source radio. That is to day: put the mechanics on a pcmcia card, compact CF appliance, or even a modified SDIO card. Then wrap it in a really simple meter that just gives you a one shot readout. All too often, the data goes into a 'proprietary trap-door' in that the patent can get it into the meter (a major accomplishment for many) but the clinic cannot access the data because that can't afford the plethora of cables/cradles/ports and or software products to access the data and do something useful with it. Maybe it's time to have the meters all have a standards compliant infra-red connection based on HL7. Then the devices can be plugged into handhelds, laptops, or even smart phones for the convenience of the patients and still be accessible to the health care providers.
    • 1) Any doctor's office or clinic can call up most major diagnostics companies and receive a set of cables/cradles/ports and software products absolutely free. By providing the office/clinic with these devices, the doctors/nurses have reason to recommend that brand of product to their patients. It's just like the free prescription pads that most pharma companies give out, the free pens, drug samples, etc. It's part of the cost of doing business.

      2) The main reason that meters are not more standardized is
      • 1) It may be cost effective to the meter manufacturer to supply cables and software free of charge, but do they supply a computer? Do they send a tech to install & configure the software and hardware? It's a token response, to show that they have made the effort, but it is clearly not a workable soultion. (Think CYA)

        2) If it improves the quality of the patient's life by improving the quality of healthcare then it's priceless. Any B.S. about profitability at the cost of quality of life is simply the

        • To answer your first question, I can only speak for the company I'm familiar with and, yes, they do send technicians out to install and configure the software and hardware. They train the salesforce to do it, plus they have a group of uber-IT-geeks who report through Marketing instead of IT and there job is to travel all over the country and do that. I don't know details about how or why, but I've heard that on a few occassions when the office/clinic PC wasn't powerful enough, or didn't have the right por
        • Improving the quality of a patient's life is not "priceless" it has a well understood cost, value and return.

          Your idea about "unwrapping" the diagnostic part from the User interface has been done, although I don't remember if went to market and failed or if was canceled just before (I do know that it was finished).

          The idea that a diagnostics device manufacturer would have anything to do with providing a computer is so counter productive it staggers the mind. It's like providing a space shuttle to homeless

  • My wife is Type 1 and checks herself regularly. She prefers the type of device that allows alternative measurement sites - arm, leg, etc. I don't remember the name of the meter she is using at the moment. That's not important.

    What is important is to understand the makeup of the people who aer using diabetes testing equipment. In my wife's case she had at one time a device that could upload readings into a computer, I dutifully set it all up and showed her how to use it. She's not the nerd that I am howeve

    • I agree.

      I'm a serious geek, but downloading my numbers to my computer (even with my new IR transfer capability) is just more trouble than it's worth. I usually don't bother except for one dump just before visiting the endocrinologist, and that's usually only good for averages since I can't be arsed to keep the clock accurate. (My Glucometer's clock drifted BADLY, the Accu-Chek's battery compartment is too loose and it completely loses its time frequently.)

      Implement wireless Palm HotSync-style syncing.
  • Type I here, Minimed Paradigm 511 and One-Touch Ultra.

    Minimed's new pumps have RF interfaces (better than infrared - no line-of-sight), and there's a meter that can integrate with the latest pump to automatically calculate boluses. Extremely cool, I want one.

    What I would like is completely automatic downloading - I sit in front of my computer, and it transfers all of the blood sugar and bolus data. I can deal with a few clicks to actually print it out, but I wish the download itself was completely aut
  • If you can create something like this [glucowatch.com] without the high price, I and millions of other diabetics will pray to you. Imagine: Inexpensive glucose monitoring without bloodletting. These guys did it, why can't anyone else?
    • I have one of those sitting in my collection. The reason that no one else did it is that is sucks in the most egregious way. It can be wildly inaccurate and It can give you a painful rash where it monitors because it is not really non-invasive. I tried it for a week before I took it apart. And no I'm not just bad mouthing the competition.

  • A few things (Score:2, Informative)

    by Uzziel ( 148474 )
    Type I diabetic here; I use an Accu-check and take my insulin from a Humalog pen.

    Things I would like in my PDA (Personal Diabetic's Assistant):
    • no test strips. They are fscking expensive. There has got to be a way to check blood sugar without strips. Non-invasively would be optimal.
    • a scale. I don't count my carbs like I should, and part of the reason is I have a hard time estimating how many ounces of pasta I've got on my plate. A small portable scale would be nice.
    • wireless data transfer. IR woul
    • Since this is a poll I don't feel bad about saying me too, but I have a couple minor changes.

      It's not necessarily strips that matter, but overall cost. Monitoring is very $$$ intensive now.

      Continuous monitoring would be VERY nice. If not continuous monitoring, something that was convenient and cheap enough that I could test every twenty minutes or so would be great. That pretty much rules out an invasive meter; I wouldn't poke myself that often under normal circumstances. Bonus points if I can attach it

      • Last year I participated in a test of a continuous metering system at the (academic) hospital where I go.
        It definetively wasn't non-invasive, though! The metering was by measuring some properties of a fluid that was pumped through a tube (containing some sort of reagent (sp?)) that was looped through, ehm, me.
        The measuring device itself was rather big, too, but in a research sample, that's only to be expeced.
        The device still had quite a few problems, especially with the tube getting easily dislodged. It did
  • T1 for, um, a decade or so. I use an Esprit Glucometer (now sold as an Ascencia I think), lispro (Humalog) with a pen, and currently glargine (Lantus) with a syringe. I don't mind testing at all, it's no problem, but y'see I still don't do it. The reason is I'm lazy, and forgetful. What I really need is an insulin delivery device combined with a glucose measuring device and a lancing ("finger prick") device. They don't have to interact with each other, just as long as when I have the insulin pen in my
      • Interesting, but I see a few problems

        First it looks huge, I'm sure they could make it much smaller if they tried. When I'm going anywhere I can easily through my Esprit into a pocket (it's about the size of a pack of cigarettes (not that I smoke)), I don't think I could do that with this.

        Second, no lancer built in, this renders it much less useful as without a lancer built in I'm much less likely to test.

        Third, the screen looks vulnerable (admittedly, no more so than a cell phone's or PDA's), the Esprit
  • ...but my idea for a diabetic testing supply would be a small device that was implanted along side one of the user's veins, where it would have access to the blood stream. This device would then have a short range wireless interface that allowed the user to monitor their blood glucose levels without needing to draw blood.
    I thought the the idea would also hold great promise for body builders or anyone else who was really concerned with controlling their nutrition.
    As far as I know I haven't seen anything like
  • Get a meter and use it yourself for two or three months.
    Find out what is a pain and what is not about using one and go from there.
  • but, having been exposed to the Atkins diet, and being somewhat overwieght, Id love to monitor my own blood sugar to correlate against the foods I eat. With the prevelance of fast food, its damn difficult to pick out low GI carbs. I want constant, non invasive, blood chemistry monitoring gadgets - they must be simple, but programmable.
  • My wife has reactive hypoglycemia- which appears to me (an engineer) as an under-damped differential equation- if her blood sugar goes too high too quickly, it will then go low quickly, which has led to intoxication like symptoms, and occasionally, unconsciousness.

    A device that can accurately measure rate of change of blood sugar would go a long way towards helping her out- since it could help her predict and avoid the dangerous crashes. Right now, the only way is with test strips, and as many have pointe
    • Matt, if your wife's diabetes is that out of control she will develop permanent vital organ damage.

      She needs to go to a Doctor NOW, who should send her to a diabetes educator, who should have her also consult a dietitian. Diet and exercise (life style) are the only known methods of stabilizing (or damping) her condition.

      If it was my wife I would not go to work tomorrow I would take her to where ever my insurance would allow and I'd do it before lunch (being that's it's 1 in the morning here as I type).

      If s

      • Well, all that has already been done (including endocrinologists saying "that can't be happening", and "your glucometer must be wrong, your blood sugar can't be that low and still be conscious" and then it checks matches what their hi-tech super doctor's office stuff says). Her blood sugar is under control now (keeping to a low carb diet and monitoring the amount of carbs/meal)... mostly. At this point, there doesn't seem to be anything that medicine can do- her pancreas does work, but just not on schedu
        • You don't mention her regimen, but it's easier to control glucose with basal/bolus than with split/mixed. Important thing is to ensure that the basal dose really is. Fast all day (10-15 hours) to be sure, adjusting the basal dose until glucose stays steady-normal all day with just the basal dose.

          Lantus and Glargine aren't good basal insulins, because basal need changes during the day. I use NPH, which has a small peak to handle the dawn phenominon [at least if you take it near midnight]. Expect 4 tim
          • Her endocrinologist has called it "type 1.5" and has categorically refused to prescribe insulin, citing a very real possibility that it could kill her- her pancreas *does* produce insulin (so she's not type 1 as I understand it) and her body can use the insulin she produces (so she's not type 2 as I understand it). But we have seen her blood sugar go from over 200 to under 70 in less than an hour.

            I don't have her test results handy- but mostly the endocrinologists are left scratching their heads.

            Thankful
            • Ah, I had presumed Type 1, which is my specialty. Your MD is probably correct in holding off on insulin for now, but she may well progress to Type 1 and need it eventually. See http://www.diabetesnet.com/diabetes_types/diabete s _type_15.php for a description of Type 1.5. This is a good site in general, run by a Type 1 friend who is also a diabetes educator. His book, Using Insulin, is a very good one for Type 1 patients.

              I'd be interested to know what kind of med she is on. Without insulin, the only
  • I have Type II diabetes and have tried just about every meter out there, but am now using the OneTouch InDuo meter which I love. (Not in the biblical sense though.) It combines a OneTouch Ultra meter with the Novo Nordisk insulin pen. http://www.lifescan.com/products/meters/induo/ [lifescan.com]

    Also there needs to be more software for Mac users. I used to use Vigora's DiabetesMentor which would grab the data from my meter but it hasn't been updated for OSX yet and it looks like it never will be.
  • A way to view numerically, graph, and analyze trends in sugars and insulin injections up to 6 months. An automatic pager to notify parents and Dr.'s when kids have complications. (highs, lows, coma, ect.) A way for Dr.'s to update them remotely and upload the data from them. Projected A1C's. Automatic insulin dosage calculation based on perscribed ratios. Cheap test strips (GOOD LUCK). Recharge dock Ability to take normal batteries as well as rechargeables for the just in case -ALL- other medical d
  • My brother was diagnosed with juvenile diabetes about 6 years ago, he was 10 at the time. He went for almost two years on shots and then started using the Mini-Med insulin pump. He had some problems with it to begin with, but the pump has been one of the best things for him in getting his life back. He now has to use special lotions on his hands and fingertips because of the caluses that have grown from him having to test his blood sugar. He tried the testers that you can take blood from your arm or leg, b
  • My daughter is five years old and was diagnosed with Type I when she was 15 months old. She was on injected insulin 3-4 times per day until this past October when we got her a Medtronic MiniMed Paradigm 712 insulin pump. Along the way she used the Bayer Glucometer Elite (now Ascensia), the OneTouch Ultra and now the Paradigm Link meter (by B-D) that works with her pump. Her first two meters both had the ability to connect to a Windows-based PC using a proprietary cable to a serial port. I bought both ca
    • I was diagnosed at 8 months, I'm 22 years old now, I have a post below for a dream meter, but thats another story. As for the issue of single vs. multistrip I have done both, I think that multistrip is the way to go. With single strip you have to carry several strips with you to get through a night away from home. With my multistrip meter I was able to go on vacation for a week and only had to bring three drums of strips. I was testing 5 times a day. I have tried 2 different multistrip meters, I like t
  • The OT Ultra is smaller and very easy to use just for a quick check. The ultimate tool should be able to work without any puncture needed...
  • Multiple strips are a must have for any diabetic on the go, the smaller you can make the meter the better, but the display needs to be easy to read. One word, BACKLIGHT. Glucose tracking is a must, advanced displays for tracking are nice but are usualy better for a desktop computer or palm app that can communicate with the meter (I know that I personaly never even look at the memory on my meter except to see if I remembered to do a test). Food intake & Insulin tracking, very few meters have this (2 t
  • I'm not diabetic, but I am a CS grad student who will soon be working on a thesis regarding medical technology (though in an area totally unrelated to yours). Obviously I have no personal experience with either type of device you mentioned, but one thing I've seen from my own research is that people who may have comorbid diagnoses are often going to require medical devices whose user interface is more flexible than that of an entertainment device or a device meant to be operated by medical professionals. Fo
  • Type II, diet controlled. I use an Accucheck because that is what the hospital gave me even though the related endo clinic can't read the machines data. dooh! I like charts, graphs, bells and whistles, most don't. So a modular system would be nice, the modules could be hard or software. It should talk to my PDA and my MAC laptop preferably without a cable or have a pull out connector. I want to be able to enter food, exercise and other variables such as having a cold or being on a steroid. Alarms, m
  • I am IDDM for about 15 years. I have used mostly some model of Accu-Chek and currently using the Active because the test strips are least expensive. I would like to see a meter that uses light or sound passed through the finger to read glucose levels. Light sensors are already commonly used to measure blood Oxygen levels. Seems like something similar could work for glucose.

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