Comments on: Musings on UK pump developments

By: Diabetes wizardry | Shoot Up or Put Up

Diabetes wizardry | Shoot Up or Put Up — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 07:08:35 +0000

[...] is an often overlooked tool in diabetes care. In fact, when I mused about pumps the other day, I completely omitted to mention the mystical marvels of the bolus wizard. Now is [...]

By: Tim

Tim — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 12:22:37 +0000

@Roger Cor! I love it when we get geeky – IOB curves, closed loop systems, etc. – it combines two of my hobbies namely diabetes and geekery

By: Alison

Alison — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 12:22:02 +0000

Good point Roger, I do use the bolus wizard. I didn’t think to mention it because I think all pumps have a version of it so I take it for granted. But you’re right, if you get that set up correctly, it does make a huge difference. Interestingly it was the one pump feature I didn’t think I’d use because I’d been calculating doses in my head for so long, why would I need it? Having got it, I use it every day!

By: Roger

Roger — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 12:18:47 +0000

Hi Alison

I think your list is spot on. However, I would also mention the bolus wizard. Do you use this? I think this is an often overlooked feature. By calculating the IOB curves for every bolus, this gives you a correction bolus which is as accurate as it can be without stacking. If you think about it it’s probably a more significant step towards a closed loop systems than the LGS in the Veo. If you are prepared to spend your day looking at the recommended correction amount based on the CGM score and giving that bolus then you have a semi-automatic control. It works even better if you increase / decrease based on CGM up/down trend.

By: Clarey

Clarey — Sat, 11 Jul 2009 13:21:02 +0000

Hmm well I have to say I have used the old Paradigm and am now using an Accucheck, and there are differences between the two, but I love my Accucheck. My funding for the new one with remote, is in progress and I am quite excited! The have developed massively and who knows what the future will hold xxx

By: Mark

Mark — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 14:45:41 +0000

@Tim Actually, I’m now hungry for an omelette.

By: Tim

Tim — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 14:18:02 +0000

Is the “egg” the international measurement for diabetes equipment or something? For example, “I like this new meter, it’s smaller than a ostrich egg” or “My new diabetes equipment case is larger than four partridge eggs laid end to end”?

By: Carol

Carol — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 13:16:56 +0000

Glad to hear that insulin pumps are progressing across the pond as well as here in the US. Alison, I’m with you on size being an issue for the omnipod. I find myself a bit irritated even with the size of the CGM transmitter for my minimed system, so I know an omnipod is not for me at this point. I call my CGM transmitter “the tick”, and if you’ve ever seen a big white cow tick, you’ll know why. But…it’s a very useful “tick”, so I also agree with you that CGM integrated with the pump is my #1 must have feature. Looking forward to everything shrinking a bit more in the future.

By: Alison

Alison — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 12:36:06 +0000

@Mark If they can get it down to the size of half a small blackbird’s egg, then I might consider it. Chickens eggs are too big to go on my arm at the moment! Even better would be a flat-ish patch.

By: Mark

Mark — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 12:28:42 +0000

@Tim @Alison The OmniPod really isn’t that big… Imagine slicing a large egg in half and attaching it to your skin. Just think what we’ll have in 5 years from now… (begin dream sequence)