I was just thinking the same thing this am, while getting dressed!. It's really difficult to fit it into the pocket of my skinny jeans, and bulges like none other. I'd like a smaller one for sure!
I would love a waterproof watch version. Because there is less area for display, keep the time, glucose level, and trend arrows, which could actually be larger than on the current receiver, by getting get rid of the history graph, as I rarely look at it anyway. It would be nice if it also showed the current date and have a programmable time alarm feature (easy to add as trend alarms would already be part of the design) to really make it also useful as a watch. It would also be nice to have a solar charging face like my Citizen watch or inductive charging so it never needs to be plugged in for charging. Lastly add bluetooth capability to wirelessly transfer history data to a PC or iPhone to get additional information.
Am I asking for too much? Actually I am an electrical engineer that designs custom integrated circuits and I know this is all possible.
I personally don’t see why they can’t make a smart phone app, and eliminate the receiver all together (for those who want to choose this option). I had the Navigator before switching to the Dex7, and it had a blood tester built in, so I understood why they couldn’t do it. But it seems like Dex could build an app that syncs with your monitor via bluetooth, and gives you all of the same info (including alarms, they’d just need to feed into the alarm system built into most smart phones), trends, etc…
Side note: why don’t they have statistics on the receiver? Eg, 3, 7, 14, 30, 60 day averages?? This drives me crazy!
If I could integrate into my iphone that would be great, and just one less thing to carry around. The reciver is WAY to big…
I like the iPhone idea as an another option but I am not sure I would like it under my pillow at night and definitely not near water. A waterproof watch would be the killer app as it could go everywhere I go without worry including wearing it in the shower, working-out, and when I sleep. Probably the one issue is making it small enough (and fashionable) to be comfortable on a woman’s or child’s wrist.
I’m actually shocked they don’t have options for smaller receivers… They have options for regular meters why not CGM?
I suppose because CGM is just in it’s infancy where meters have been around for a while. I would guess in the next 10 years we will really see the CGM coverage/market increase (I wish I had money to buy stock right now!!!) with more “choices” available to us. One can hope anyway!!!
I would seriously hope that it would be sooner than 10 years. With the technology available there is absolutly no reason there is not a smaller option, I would pay a premium to have a smaller/thinner dexcom reciever even if it cut the battery life in half I would be OK with it. Come on DexCom…
I agree. I guess I was not responding that it will take 10 years to have a smaller unit but in the next 10 years we will have different CGMS options (one that actually monitors from blood vs interstitial fluid etc…). Dexcom will have a smaller unit by the end of this year. I will not guarantee but it is highly likely.
I have a Dexcom and I too would like to have the option of the transmitter transmitting bluetooth that I could read from my cell phone. The new phones I think you can make text as large or small as you need it so it would work for all. They could still support the large device if people want those too. It is way too big in my opinion all I need is something that vibrates for alerts and that I can look at quickly to get a number. Shouldn’t need something that big for that purpose in most cases.
As said before I agree 100% I wonder if Dexcom themselves are watching this forum, because alot of great ideas come from it. Especially the smartphone option, it would make “checking” your readings much much more discrete…
I have responded to this before but the reason the unit is so big is because they had to “wrap” the wire that receives the transmission so many times around the core unit to get a decent signal. When Animas partnered with Dexcom they gave them millions of dollars to fix this issue because they did not want to make their pump any larger. This problem is fixed and the next generation sensor will be coming with a smaller receiver.
I have heard they are working on the bluetooth technology. Only problem I see is that most smart phone users complain of how often they have to charge their battery. Now mix in a unit that is sending a signal to the phone every 5 minutes not to mention activating the phone to see what the glucose is as well as alarming when high/low and all the sudden that battery is going to be used even sooner…
Interesting! Thanks for the info.
I kind of thought it was a technical issue like the wiring, even though the Dex customer service person told me the receiver is so large because they want visually impaired people to be able to see it. Sounds like she didn’t have the whole story.
I am really looking forward to a smaller one!
My dexcom rep a few months ago said they were possibly going to go bluetooth with the transmitter on the next gen and possibly make your smart phone able to recieve the data. That would be really good but I think they should still send you a reciever and leave it up to you because if something happens to your phone then you have nothing.
Katie, I think that smartphone “Receivers” are an extremely unlikely future. The fundamental flaw is the fact that users get to buy Apps, and do Software Updates, and install Media Files. The FDA will not approve such a device as a Dexcom Receiver unless it is TOTALLY locked down.
Now, how many of these smartphones are waterproof? (right… no better than the current receiver.)
Pump integration is probably THE solution, providing for both replaceable batteries and waterproof construction. In the short term, Dexcom might have to create alternate “Transmitters” which match the exact communications frequency of the pumps for which they’re designed… but, as already mentioned by another person, it is probably going to be switched to bluetooth.
And, with an unexpected “Not yet, and we need more information” response the the Gen4 Approval Request, it could be shelved. If Gen5 is nearly ready for Trials, it might not make good business sense for Dexcom to undertake the enormous costs of releasing GEN4 for Sale at all.
I’ll SWAG that Gen5 is pump integration (with custom transmitters), and BlueTooth is later. But that’s only a guess- I’m just another customer, without any non-public “insider” information.
I have a little piece of info for this thread. I believe the new generation 4 or 5 receiver will be smaller with a same or near same size display. As far as Blue-tooth and IPhone - best guess is forget it. The reason I am suggesting to forget them is FDA requires the entire system to be under their regulatory command and control. Apple is not going to go to that expense for only a part of their customer base. As far as Blue-tooth is concerned, dissect the manufacturing process here. Three parts would need FDA approval - 1) Blue-tooth encoding of the RF signals, 2) the transmitter itself, and 3) the BT receiver and its integrated software. All of this approval process would be very expensive and require very large (expensive) clinical trials with otherwise inert devices made to tolerances FDA would approve. Go figure
Thanks for the info on the new receiver Jay. I know the FDA has already given approval for past medical devices that transmitted data to cell phones even diabetes glucose monitoring data such as the glucophone a few years back. It takes a while for new technology to be accepted. There are things that could be done such as still offering the current receiver in a “controlled device” fashion while allowing the user to opt-in to receiving data on their bluetooth phone too “not to be used for medical purposes” therefore its just a data dump like we do now to our computers so we can review it. In other words make people still buy the current receiver but give them a way to view reports on their cell phone which would be a great first step. Lots of ways to deal with this issue and people are pretty creative. Times do change though the government usually lags behind several years but they will catch up eventually and help with working around those barriers. I somehow doubt 20 years from now people will be carrying around a dedicated device just to display their current blood glucose value seems funny if you think about it.
Thanks, Adam. I went to fda.gov and read about glucophone. Search by its company name - HealthPia for the May 2010 approval letter. Interesting…
Wearing it like a wristwatch will be very practical
i wish the readings could be sent straight to an iphone app!!