Pancreum is one of 10 finalists in the 2011 DiabetesMine Design Challenge. What are the "pros" and "cons" of this design?

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A total of 95 entries were submitted before April 29th. On May 16th the judges announced the 20 semi-finalists (including Pancreum) and asked for people to vote for their favorites. On May 26th, the voting results were in and the 10 finalists (again including Pancreum) were revealed.

The winner(s) will be crowned on June 13th, and I have no nails left. :)

The design is not finalized and these products won't be available for a few years yet. Please provide feedback on the following items and let me know what you think about their features, potential flaws or limitations. Feel free to add your feature wish list too. This is our way to empower people (and parents of people) with diabetes and give you a chance to REALLY influence these products' design and features.

Devices:

1. "CoreMD" re-usable system "brain" which contains the microprocessor, Bluetooth circuitry and rechargeable batteries.

2. "BetaWedge" replaceable insulin pump

3. "GlucoWedge" replaceable continuous glucose monitor

Systems:

4. InsuLean Insulin Delivery System (Custom PDA or Smartphone, CoreMD and BetaWedge)

5. Vigil Continuous Glucose Monitoring System (Custom PDA or Smartphone, CoreMD and GlucoWedge)

6. Mine Closed-Loop System (Custom PDA or Smartphone, CoreMD, BetaWedge and GlucoWedge)

All systems will be shipped with 2 CoreMD devices. While you wear one for up to 7 days, the other can be recharged via the micro USB connector and also serve as a spare.

Note: The glucagon pump (AlphaWedge) design and use in a system will take a few years to be finalized, and MANY MANY more years to be approved by regulatory agencies, so the "Genesis Artificial Pancreas System" (which includes it) will not become a reality for a good while. :( So, please concentrate your comments on the devices and systems listed above only.

Thanks,

Gil

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I forgot to ask all to go to the website and read about the devices and systems. The video does not contain enough information.

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Gil, this is a nice design visually. But I do have questions/concerns about implementation details.

  1. How can I attach a device that needs both an insulin cannula and a CGM sensor? However you solve that please make it some type of auto insert?
  2. Generally insulin cannulas are good for 2-4 days, while CGM sensors are good for 7-14 days. Does this mean I have to remove the CGM when it's still got a lot of life in it?
  3. How will it connect to a system (PC or Mac please)? I'm hoping bluetooth, if not please consider a completely standard microUSB cable
  4. Please make sure I can export my data from whatever software you provide. Ideally in XML or CSV format.
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It looks really great!

One question that comes to my mind is - the insulin and glucagon delivery sites are just next to the CGM sensor. aren’t they going to interfere with the BG readings of the sensor? current technologies require at least 8 cm distance of the sensor from the cannula…

How long would the cannulas and sensor be - will they come in various lengths or will they go all in the same depth - because when you think about a thin versus heavy person, the length of the cannula might vary a lot! The cannulas are going to be inserted in a 90°angle I suppose…

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Claire,
a. In the current design that distance will be just less than 2" (5 cm). We’ve researched that a lot and we feel that is ok. If we find that is a problem later on, the connection/cable between the wedges and the CoreMD would be made longer, thus spacing them out a some more.
b. We currently foresee only one length for the cannula and for the needle-shaped sensor. This is an interesting request. We’ll have to brainstorm and see if different lengths may be possible.
c. If we use a manual insertion mechanism then it will be at 90 degrees, but if it’s automatic (as planned) it may have to be at an angle close to 45 degrees.

Thanks!

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Bernard,

  1. You connect the CoreMD, BetaWedge and GlucoWedge together while holding them in your hands. Then you place them on your body. Then you command (via the PDA/Smartphone) for the the automatic insertion mechanisms (for both) to insert. If one of them is manually inserted: You place that wedge first on the body. Then connect the CoreMD with the other wedge device on. Then you command (via the PDA/Smartphone) for the the automatic insertion mechanism for the 2nd one to automatically insert.
  2. We hope to develop a cannula that’s good for 6 days and use 6-day insulin. If the CGM sensor is still good for another week, you’ll be able to leave it on the body while you handle the BetaWedge change and then reconnect.
  3. It will be BOTH via Bluetooth and a standard micro USB connector. It could also be sent via email from your Smartphone to your endo, etc. :slight_smile:
  4. and 4. We’ll provide our open-spec standard data download interface to potential Windows/Mac/Linux developers, so we hope there will be a few choices of PC-based applications available in the market from us and/or 3rd-party companies. The data will be available in standard formats such as Excel-compatible CSV, XML and potentially other formats.

Thanks!

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Congrats on the win Gil!

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Gil, thanks for answering some of the concerns I had. Congratulations on your win in the DiabetesMine design challenge.

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Thank you Lorraine and Bernard! I’m very happy and honored!

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Thanks for answering my questions and congratulations to your win!

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Thanks Claire!

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Want to add my congratulations! An honor for your hard work. We all appreciate your efforts.

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Thanks Gerri!

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Thanks Nate!