Diabetapedia

A few months ago Discuss Diabetes introduced Diabetapedia (di-ah-bee-tah-pee-dee-ah), "a digital resource developed with the goal of creating a single, comprehensive place where anyone can find and share definitions of diabetes-related terms and phrases".

I loved the idea of the site when I learned of it because I can remember when I first arrived in the DOC, there was so much jargon, abbreviations and diabetes slang that at times I didn't know what anyone was talking about.

The site lets users search, suggest and enhance terms related to diabetes... it's pretty awesome! There's even a widget that bloggers can add to their sites so that your readers can look up a word or phrase on Diabetapedia without ever leaving your blog. I've added it to Arden's Day on the lower right side of our page, just under the search field for this site.

Sanofi US Diabetes and Diabetapedia helps support the Diabetes Hands Foundation and Diabetes Advocates (I am a member of DA). You can learn more about DHF and their relationship with Sanofi US Diabetes here. 

http://www.diabetapedia.com/

WEGOhealth: Mobile Health Apps Failing to Get it Right

The good people at WEGO Health asked me for my opinions about health apps and then I chatted their ear off.

Brown University Study: Biochip measures glucose in saliva, not blood

Researchers at Brown University have developed technology that can measure glucose in human saliva.

Engineers at Brown University have designed a biological device that can measure glucose concentrations in human saliva. The technique could eliminate the need for diabetics to draw blood to check their glucose levels. The biochip uses plasmonic interferometers and could be used to measure a range of biological and environmental substances.

Read the entire article at this link, it's facinating!

Tripping the light fantastic Each plasmonic interferometer – thousands of them per square millimeter – consists of a slit flanked by two grooves etched in a silver metal film. The schematic shows glucose molecules “dancing” on the sensor surface illuminated by light with different colors. Changes in light intensity transmitted through the slit of each plasmonic interferometer yield information about the concentration of glucose molecules in solution.Credit: Domenico Pacifici 

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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iPhone 4 Initial thoughts

My phone arrived this morning (via FedEx) while I was in the shower, I say that to remind you all to presign and leave the form on your front door so you won’t miss your phone’s arrival.

Activation

I backed up my 3G phone and then began the activation process which took just a few (less then 5) minutes and was flawless.  I did a restore from that backup and was up and running in about 15 minutes. Everything was smooth.

First impression

I’m so impressed that Apple has redesigned the iPhone so much over the past few years yet it’s very reminiscent of the original... but at the same time, it’s completely different and improved.  It feels great in my hand and looks like a million bucks.

Display

As advertised the display is amazing, crisp and vibrant in a way that I hadn’t anticipated.  

Camera

The camera is a major upgrade, the HD video is impressive and the stills are superb.  I’m not a super technophile about these things so take my thoughts based on that.  My impression is that you’ll be very happy with the camera. Here are my samples.

It’s faster

Apps respond faster then on my 3GS even on the apps that I’d experienced lag with in the past. Navigating the UI is quick.

Battery

The phone arrived charged and after 9 hours of use the battery reads 80%.  I took pictures, video, uploaded things to MobileMe, talked on the phone and used a lot of continuous iPod play.

Other Stuff

I’ve already uploaded a number of things to my MobileMe gallery and the integration is seamless. 

iBooks is more responsive on the iPhone4 then on 3GS

I’m going to go play with my new iPhone some more... back later...

FaceTime - I don’t have anyone to FT with yet but I can tell you this much... I’m way more aware of my double chin today then I was yesterday.