We make glucose treatment decisions every day based on our fingerstick meters. But how do we know we should trust our meters?
I use a Roche Accu-Chek Aviva Connect blood glucose or BG meter. My Dexcom CGM is calibrated using this meter and the CGM feeds BG data every five minutes to Loop, my automated insulin dosing system. The reasonable accuracy and precision of my meter is central to my management system.
That’s why I have my doctor order a lab plasma glucose blood test every three months. Immediately after my blood is drawn, I do three fingersticks and record the numbers on my phone. I made sure my hands are freshly washed and thoroughly dried. I took blood separately from three fingers, two on one hand and one on the other.
This morning’s fingerstick numbers were 92, 88, and 88 mg/dL (5.1, 4.9, 4.9) or an average of 89.3 (5.0). The lab result came back at 89 mg/dL (5.1). I am now reasonably assured that my treatment decisions as well as those decisions that Loop makes are accurate and precise enough.
It’s worked out well for me and I thought others might benefit in replicating this system.
