Diabetes Tech News: Medtronic Launches First-Of-Its-Kind mySentry™ Remote Glucose Monitor

Medtronic announces mySentry and I rejoice. Their new innovation does sound familiar...

mySentry Allows Caregivers to See Real-Time Insulin Pump Information and Glucose Trends from Another Room

MINNEAPOLIS – January 4, 2012 – Today, Medtronic, Inc. (NYSE:MDT) announced U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval and U.S. market launch of the first-of-its-kind mySentry™ Remote Glucose Monitor, which allows a parent or caregiver to monitor from another room a patient’s MiniMed Paradigm® REAL-Time Revel™ System. The remote glucose monitor also marks the launch of a new category of Connected Care solutions that will provide people with diabetes and their caregivers convenient options to access their diabetes management information.

Perhaps more then any other chronic dieses, management of day-to-day diabetes lends itself to cutting edge technology. While I'm always grateful for the advancements that have already been made, I'd like to see more and see it faster. 

Even if you don't use a Medtronic device (Arden uses a DexCom CGM) this news is fantastic. Wireless technology like this is sorely needed and Medtronic's announcement will serve us all well, spurning other manufacturers to move forward as quickly as possible so not to be left behind. It is also a signal to other companies that the FDA is allowing clearance for technology such as this. That knowledge will make it easier for smaller companies to get into the game. Many device manufacturers are smaller and less profitable then you may imagine and they can't afford to get trapped into a protracted submission process with the government.

I love the FDA saying yes, I love Medtronic trying and I look forward to finding out what is next - please just don't price us all out of when your products come to market.

Medtronic's complete press release is at this link.

ps. It's time to let Insulet give us their smaller pods FDA - I mean really... which ever device lobbyist has you holding this up (my supposition)... they've gotten their monies worth, time to think about the people again.

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Bionic contact lenses?

Here's an interesting article about emerging technology. It mentions how the tech could be used to monitor glucose levels. So much fun to wonder what tomorrow will bring... check it out.

A link to the source article is just below... Click 'References' for more.

Thanks to Arden's Day reader (and Arden's mom) Kelly for the article!

Continuous Glucose Monitoring Urged in Type 1 Diabetes

By Kristina Fiore, Staff Writer, MedPage Today

Published: October 14, 2011
Reviewed by Robert Jasmer, MD; Associate Clinical Professor of Medicine, University of California, San Francisco and Dorothy Caputo, MA, RN, BC-ADM, CDE, Nurse Planner

Both pediatric and adult patients with type 1 diabetes should use continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) to measure blood glucose levels, according to new guidelines.

There's high-quality evidence from studies showing that CGM can reduce the risk of hypoglycemia and help maintain good glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) control in both populations, David Klonoff, MD, of Mills-Peninsula Health Services in San Mateo, Calif., and colleagues reported in a clinical practice guideline from the Endocrine Society. The guideline was published in the October issue of the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism.

"There are still concerns about the high costs of CGM and the accuracy of the various systems available," Klonoff said in a statement. "However, the new guideline shows that CGM can be a beneficial tool to help maintain target levels of glycemia and limit the risk of hypoglycemia."

Standard blood glucose monitoring with finger sticks can provide only intermittent snapshots of glucose levels, the researchers said, and often miss sustained hyperglycemic and hypoglycemic excursions.

On the other hand, CGM allows for more complete blood glucose profiles, though there have been concerns over the accuracy of interstitial tissue sampling compared with actual blood levels. However, newer devices have shown improved accuracy, Klonoff and colleagues reported.

In their review of the literature for creating the guidelines, they found sufficient high-quality evidence to recommend the use of real-time CGM in children and adolescents with type 1 diabetes who are at least 8 years old.

There was also high-quality evidence to recommend CGM in adult type 1 diabetes patients, they wrote.

The guidelines also suggested intermittent use of CGM in both children and adults who can't use real-time CGM, in order to analyze nocturnal hypoglycemia, the "dawn phenomenon," and postprandial hyperglycemia. Intermittent use also can help manage hypoglycemic unawareness, as well as assist patients when significant changes are made to their diabetes regimens.

They noted, however, that this suggestion was made on the basis of low-quality evidence.

The guidelines also recommend against the use of CGM in the intensive care unit or in the operating room "until further studies provide sufficient evidence for its accuracy and safety in those settings."

Free* Apidra from now until 4/30/12

I just got my card. It only took a few minutes...

All you have to do is go to this link and answer a few simple check box questions. The system will then generate a printable card for you to take into your Pharmacy and just like that your Apidra is free! Visit the link to get your card now and for more details. There is a bit of fine print... I've included some of it below.

If you want to know about more offers in the future please follow me on Twitter, FaceBook and Subscribe to Arden's Day - links are in the sidebar to the right.

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Please use the "share article" link just below to spread the word.

From now until April 30, 2012, Apidra® vials are free for patients with commercial insurance*. ACCESS also provides Certified Diabetes Educators for on-demand support and counseling.

 *Offer is not valid for patients participating in Medicare, Medicaid, or any other federal- or state-funded benefit programs. Offer not valid in MA (except for cash-paying patients). Void where prohibited by law. Cards are the property of sanofi-aventis, and must be returned upon request. Both parties reserve the right to rescind, revoke, or amend this program without notice. Maximum offer value $250 per prescription. Cards valid through April 30, 2012.

I have not been compensated in any way for this post. Just good information for our fellow insulin users.

Steve Jobs, Apple founder, has died

It isn't often that the world sees a human being whose thoughts effect so many. I believe that the ideas Mr. Jobs brought to us will continue to spur innovation far beyond the years that he was on this earth. His loss will be felt by far more then those of us that use the technology that he pioneered. Rest in peace Steve, your too short life was a gift to all.

We should all hope that we do just one thing in our lifetime that touches so many, that does so much to advance humanity.

The video below is Steve Jobs' 2005 Stanford Commencement Address and is very worth watching... Thanks to Adam for turning me on to it!