What is Tidepool? I’m confused. Is it an insulin pump? I’m sending in my animas pump soon and going toward Tandem. As far as I know the only options out there are really medtronic or Tandem? Correct? So where does Tidepool come into play? So much to keep up with!
1 Like
Tidepool is an organization which lets you visualize and explore your diabetes data via this website. You can upload your data from your device, e.g. a pump or glucose meter, and it produces diagrams to help you understand the data.
Tidepool is also developing a hybrid closed loop system for use in combination with a Dexcom CGM and a Medtronic or Omnipod pump.
1 Like
Thank you!
@tonilynn20 Tidepool us also free for you the user. Additionally you have the option to anonymously donate your data for research.
I am using Tidepool to collect info from my Dexcom sensor and Omnipod pump. I’m looking at it right now, while I browse the forum, so Ill post a snapshot.
Glad @tonilynn20 asked this b/c I’m pretty uninformed about it too. What jumps out at me from @Terry4’s screenshot is the language about “will support… a future Bluetooth-enabled MiniMed” with G6 integration. It sounds like they’re anticipating Medtronic opening the door to Dexcom compatibility, making it possible for them to develop with some degree of actual Medtronic cooperation—or at least without their active resistance—as opposed to hacking into old models with pre-v.3 firmware. I would have said “Unpossible!!!” but that seems like what they’re suggesting. Is that you’re understanding?
ETA: And then I clicked the link…
I am gobsmacked. I think this is worth a forum thread in its own right. Hope no one minds if I start one.
2 Likes
There are various options.
This has already been publicly stated to NOT be the 780g which has just started undergoing the pivotal clinical trials. Which is why it says a “future” pump. ie - AFTER the 780g.
In terms of the Dexcom integration, the Dexcom needs to integrate with the ALGORITHM not necessarily the pump. So if the Tidepool algorithm resides on a SmartPhone then the Dexcom can integrate with the SmartPhone and into the algorithm.
It would be an option for the Dexcom to feed into the pump but not necessary and likely not the easiest approach technically.
Yeah, not much info yet on how exactly they’ll be doing it but the surprising thing is that this is very much a MT-supported effort, not something Tidepool is doing on their own. I really did not expect to have that confirmed. The plan is to use a BT-enabled MiniMed, a new pump not one of their existing ones.
This was announced at the DiabetesMine D-Data Exchange on Friday, June 7, 2019, held concurrently with the ADA Scientific Sessions in San Francisco last month. There was a lot of diabetes news coming out during that period so it’s not surprising that many overlooked this.
I remember at the time that this announcement caught the looping DIY community by surprise, too. Many DIYers see Med-T as a business antithetical to the spirit that energizes the #WeAreNotWaiting movement. I tip my hat to Howard Look, Tidepool CEO, who negotiated this agreement.
Med-T, with putting this a long way off on the calendar (after the 780G pending product) seems to me as tentative in this move. It looks like they’re keeping their options open. It would be great to have Medtronic really commit to interoperability and open source values but I’ll remain skeptical until they start devotong money and resources in that direction. Maybe they fear being left behind.
Here’s coverage from Beyond Type 1.
That was what was really astonishing to me when I found out they were actually on board with this. The PR effect on me, personally, was fairly dramatic. But “hedging their bets” is certainly part of it. Their in-house CGM technology is still lagging behind Dexcom, and of course it is, because that’s all Dexcom DOES, whereas it’s a non-core sideline for MT. With others starting to crowd into the CGM space, not to mention other loop systems on the horizon, some of them based on interoperability with Dexcom, maybe they’re starting to wonder if they were heading down a blind alley by trying to lock everyone into their pump-CGM ecosystem. Weren’t they planning to market the Guardian 3 as a stand-alone CGM? Haven’t heard much about that lately…
Tidepool is awesome, most of the workers there have T1, so their motivations are very different than the big companies (similar to Beta Bionics 
)
1 Like
MT has lost a lot of market share. They are responding to some of the online criticisms by our patient community. They are responding to FDA criticism. Now, if they also respond to long standing concerns from the research community, they will be kinda back in the game.
1 Like