A while back I saw something about Tandem’s next gen insulin pump, but I can’t wade through all the Control IQ news to find anything about it. I am curious if anyone knows anything or has any links to info. My warranty is up in November and I am wondering how long it will be until their next pump comes out. I would really hate to get another X2 for 4 more years if something will be coming out next year or something. As cool as the remote updates are, I heard talk that the next gen pump may have tubeless capabilities which would be cool.
You’re looking for info on their t:sport pump. It’s still in the pipeline and they don’t release much info on pipeline products
It’s scheduled to be submitted to the FDA for approval in mid-2020, but that may be optimistic. I wouldn’t expect to much on this front till either very late 2020, or early 2021.
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Hey thanks! I couldn’t remember the name of it. That’s it.
I hate the idea of using a cell phone to control a pump. Battery life can vary so much and if u aren’t near a power source and the phone dies, then what? Or just having one’s cell not usable for about an hour when it does an update. Or when you have to reset it to factory because of issues. Or you drop it and break it so badly it isn’t usable. My current pump is attached to my set, so I can’t drop it and break it, it is more durable than a cell phone, and the battery lasts a month. I don’t know why people want to use a cell phone for a critical piece of medical equipment. If all new pumps included the option to use a dedicated device that seems like a better idea, but if it is separate , like the PDM for an Omnipod, I still can’t get enthused.
From what I have read from Tandem is you can bolus directly from the pump with no need for phone.
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So u don’t really need to have a separate device such as a phone? when I read,“controlled via a separate device or mobile app” I mistook that to mean you had to have a separate device. I need to do better with my interpretations of words. 
Depends on where the algorithm is imbedded. If the pump contains the algorithm, you wouldn’t need the phone app for the pump to run unabated. If the algorithm is in the app, the pump won’t function without being connected to the phone. This is the major difference between the Omnipod Horizon and Omnipod Tidepool loop systems. Horizon has the loop system built into each pod, whereas Tidepool has their loop algorithm in their iOS app.
I am also not crazy about reliance on a phone. The problem is they never have universal Android support, so you basically have to get an iPhone, or one of the supported Android phones which may mean buying a new phone and using a phone you don’t like. I know part of that is due to the FDA and their hurdles to things that would make life easier.
I would be more open to the idea if they gave a credit to purchase a phone to use with the pump lol.
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According to this SEC filing, it looks like it will come with a controller like the G6. It also appears that they are ditching their cartridge design and going back to a syringe-like device. A controller is better than relying on a phone, but I still like the touchscreen. They also are shrinking the cartridge to 200 ml.
I would be ECSTATIC to control my pump from my phone. It’s already a lifeline that never leaves my side, it would be so conveniet to minimize the required number of lifelines I have to have on me at all times. Heck, I’d settle just for the functioning app and keep my beloved tried and true t:slim X2.
I have zero concerns about there not being a backup method to control the pump we’ve already seen how obsessively annoying the FDA requires redundancy on these things. There is zero probability that you wouldn’t be able to bolus from the pump itself, I’m sure similar to Tandem’s current quick bolus method.
I’m also not concerned for battery life. Thankfully, there are always new innovations in this field. Newer phones can charge to 80% in less than 30 minutes. Unfortunately, batteries have a limited lifeline, specifically a limited number of recharge cycles, it’s why most people hate and/or replace their phones after just a year or so now. But there are easy workarounds for this. First off, you can charge just about anywhere now. Ask to be seated near a plug in restaurants, etc. Pocket battery packs are always an option. You could download a battery optimizing app that will prevent you from over-charging, which is the quickest way to drain your battery life.
Most importantly, it is so simple to replace your battery. I’ve done so with just about every phone to come into this house because we like to keep healthy backups. Most batteries can be bought on Amazon for ~$15. All you need is a hair dryer/heat gun, a suction cup, and some playing cards to get the screen apart. A nylon spudger (fine tipped poking tool) is helpful but not necessary. You may need a specialty electronics fine-tipped screwdriver, like a T9, too. Let YouTube guide you to your specific make and model teardown, but it really is easy to revive your phone.
I don’t understand how battery life on a phone is a deal breaker for some, but they’re willing to Dremel dexcom transmitters, drill holes in caustic batteries to pry them out, and epoxy it all shut again. Replacing a cell phone battery is so much easier than that!
But unfortunately, I’ve got this same exact fear. I still have an original Google pixel 5.0 floating around, which is usually a supported device, but they haven’t maintained specs on thier later generations, so I can’t see myself buying another one. I have to run xdrip+ for Dexcom data because my OnePlus 6 isn’t supported.
My husband tends to buy the latest generation of phones because he needs the extra tech for work and travel and gives me the gently-used ones, so I already know my next phone will also be a likely-unsupported OnePlus 7. I really hope the FDA loosens up and allows based on Android version, and not specific build. Maybe xdrip+ will hack the bolusing featuring?
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You are confusing details of 2 different pumps. Tandem never used a syringe reservoir in their pump, so they are not going back to anything. They did not shrink the reservoir and ditch the cartridge. The photograph above is of the much anticipated t:Sport pump. There will be two pumps in Tandem’s lineup now. Their flagship pump the X2 and the t:Sport.
So nobody else needs to read that mind-numbing document, this is the only section that pertains to the t:sport. Also note, this is more than a year old:
" Our next-generation hardware platform is referred to under its development name, the t:sport insulin delivery system, or t:sport. This product is expected to be half the size of t:slim and is being designed for people who seek even greater discretion and flexibility with the use of their insulin pump. We anticipate that t:sport will feature a 200-unit cartridge, an on-pump bolus button, a rechargeable battery, an AID algorithm, and a Bluetooth radio. t:sport is being designed for use with leading U-100 insulins, and we are evaluating the use of insulin concentrates to provide people with greater insulin needs. t:sport will utilize a pumping mechanism that differs from our current Micro-Delivery technology.
t:sport Shown with Touchscreen Controller
Since 2016, we have engaged in discussions with the FDA regarding whether the t:sport controller can be implemented as a mobile device application or will need to be a separate device. Based on the FDA’s feedback regarding the use of unrestricted mobile phones, we are designing the product so that it will have the technical capability to be controlled using either a dedicated controller or a mobile device. Because of the nature of our touchscreen user interface, we are well positioned to pursue either option.
We anticipate pursuing FDA authorization for t:sport as an ACE pump, and we are designing t:sport to be compatible with our AID algorithms and any available iCGM. Our goal is to receive FDA authorization for this product for use in the United States in 2020, and to thereafter submit for regulatory approvals outside the United States"
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I wonder if they’ve got a new patent working for whatever cartridge/reservoir system is in the works. Tandem is so boastful about their micro-delivery platform and how much safer it is, that I can’t fathom them reverting to the old-technology other pumps used. It sure does look like a traditional reservoir with the markings and whatnot, though.
How is it safer, anyway. I’ve never had any issues with getting too much insulin with any of my 6 different Medtronic pumps, including while wearing them on a number of flights. Not only that, but it’s apparent that there are more “no-delivery” issues with Tandem pumps, even when used with Steel sets.
I did a LOT of research before I decided on the t:slim x2, of which I don’t intend to repeat now. I spent too many hours sorting through MAUDE, where adverse events of medical devices are reported. You can search MAUDE here, https://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/cdrh/cfdocs/cfMAUDE/search.CFM .
There were a lot of reported events of “critical hypoglycemia” from pump malfunctions/over-delivery. I went looking specifically because my Tandem rep told me a horror story about the new 630 emptying it’s reservoir into a child… Which I took with a big grain of salt. It’s pretty difficult to sort through all that data so I didn’t find that specific case, but I did find more that concerned me than with the Tandem pumps. Tandem didn’t have a clean record, either, though.
Some months back, @mohe0001 shared this study: Siphon Effects on Continuous Subcutaneous Insulin Infusion Pump Delivery Performance - PMC Which basically showed that capillary action and/or gravity depending on pump/site orientation did affect the amount of insulin delivered. In some cases it was more than requested, and in other cases it was less. But as @Terry4 pointed out, that study is like 10 years old, so I don’t know how much the reservoirs have been changed since then.
Mostly, Tandem claims it’s safer because you’re isolated from the large volume of insulin in the reservoir/cartridge, and the entire volume of insulin isn’t under pressurization.
I don’t think I am confused…wait…am I confused?.. no…no, definitely not confused, just not clear 
I didn’t mean that Tandem was removing the X2 from their line up, and giving up on the bladder type cartridge. I meant that it looked the t:sport will not use that type of cartridge and uses a 2 ml, syringe type cartridge instead. And by “go back,” I meant go back to the technology that was used before they came along, not that Tandem was going back to something THEY had used before.
Hope that is clearer.
It’s got to be some sort of new tech, though. There isn’t enough room for the screw piston that keeps the non-Tandem pumps so big.
I know. I have a hard time believing that there isn’t some major innovation in that pump. The space below the cartridge is about the same size as the cartridge itself, so it could have a drive. It does look wide. That means tighter tolerances of the screw mechanism.
In this Healthline There are some good pictures. In the first one, with the t:sport next to the t:slim, it sure looks like there is a horizontal piston at the top of the cartridge, offset to the left a little. Maybe it isn’t a plunger on the bottom, but a movable piece. The insulin is pumped out, as with the X2, but instead of a bladder that collapses, the bottom moves up as the volume goes down.
I hope we hear more soon.
Thanks for the link. That prototype is even older than the one in the pictures I added above, but with much clearer pictures. I’m really surprised to see so little separation between tubing and reservoir. Now that Control-IQ is released, maybe they’ll be more forthcoming with this project.
And I quote:
“It will be a disposal stick-to-your body device, but not quite a full patch pump, as it would still need the four-inch infusion set connector for tubing.”
Not sure I want to stick something that big to my body, with a 4 inch tube?