I ordered my new Revel 723 Mini-Med insulin pump on the St.Patty's Day, 2010, on the first day it came out, and I am now a re-born Continuous Glucose Monitor wearer. My control has been dramatically improved from monitoring my Blood Glucose values through the Continuous Glucose Monitor (CGM) and by adjusting my basal rates according to the two week trends of data. In addition, to this ability to adjust for long term control, the Revel's High and Low glucose predictors are almost always right on the money and give you advanced warning to react to a hypo or hyperglycemic reaction even before it happens.
For all Diabetic there is a tremendous opportunity here if we just put two existing technologies together. Seeing this opportunity here and being a closet techie, I really think that with the right software, we could have a virtual pancreas right now. Improved software could analyze two weeks worth of blood glucose data and then suggest an appropriate course of basal rate suggestions. Basically, instead of just a bolus wizard, the pump would have a basal rate wizard data based on your continual blood sugar readings (for the uninitiated Bolus is a quick does of insulin to "cover" food or high blood sugar and Basal is the "drip rate" that the IV like insulin pump puts in your system which can be programmed and customized for different hours during the day/night). Every two weeks the automated analysis would offer basal rate suggestions that could bring you under greater and greater control. Certainly, user customized math equations, much like our programmable bolus wizards and insulin sensitivities can be implemented to react to existing blood glucose trends.
The fact that the basal rates wizard would offer suggestions for manual implementation by the pump user and not be an actual automated process would mitigage the company's risk of liability. These software programs would be offering mere recommendations to be implemented by the user, so that the user would have total liability if anything were to go wrong (which are the virtual pancreas makers' biggest fear and impediment).
We can achieve this virtual diabetic pancreas today. The technology and certainly the data analysis capabilities are here now. Let's try to mobilize and push for an improved software management program and also a CGM that, like a 4G smartphone, will always be connected to the internet so updates will continuously stream blood glucose data to the net much like a video.
The time is now. The technology is here. Like anything else in the status quo, in order to change it, we need to mobilize just a few committed like minded individuals who will never say die until we get want we after: healthier living through control of Diabetes.
Let's get active and start pushing for real time streams of data and a Basal Rate wizard which would analyze that data and offer recommendations to be implemented MANUALLY by the user. Risk is mitigated, results are achieved. Everyone's happy.
Contact the following Diabetic organizations and don't give money (they have the money needed for this), just demand that they use their existing resources to make this happen.
Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation
Medtronic, Maker of the Mini-Med Insulin Pump
Dexcom, Maker of the SevenPlus Glucose Monitoring System
Abbott Laboratories, Maker of the Freestyle Navigator Continuous Glucose Monitor
Please forward this to anyone you who has Diabetes and wants to push forward toward a cure.
Brian Mannix
Type I Diabetic
mannixlab@gmail.com