You asked what a CGMS is and I don't think you asked in the right place, so let me answer here: First, neither a pump nor a cgms has a needle stuck in the person all the time. The pump infusion sets have a small tube stuck inside the person (a canula) and it is plastic. It is inserted with a needle, the needle comes out right away, the tube stays in for two or three days. Then it gets changed.
With a CGMS, again, a needle goes in with the sensor, but the needle comes out and the sensor stays in (for 2 to 20 days or so). The sensor (disposable) is then connected to a transmitter (re-usable), and the sensor checks the sugar level of the interstitial fluid. The transmitter sends that measurement to the receiver, which is the about the size of a deck of cards, and which is not attached to the person, although it needs to be in range (a few feet for the Guardian or Dexcom, considerably further for the Navigator). You enter in blood sugar readings occasionally (from every other day to three times per day) into the receiver, which uses that plus an algorithm to turn out an approximation of the blood sugar every five minutes for the Guardian or Dexcom, every minute for the Navigator. It displays the blood sugar in a graph, it alarms when the blood sugar is outside of your preset range, and so forth.
There are three brands of continuous glucose monitoring systems on the market. The Navigator is the newest and has FDA approval only for 18+, although plenty of kids use it and it is prescribed to them and appropriate for them. The Dexcom also has just one version currently for sale (although there was an older model) and is only FDA approved for 18+, although once again there's nothing wrong with a younger person using it and plenty do. Minimed has pretty much one system, in three formats. The Guardian, which I have used, is like the Dexcom and Navigator- approved for 18+, and is a stand alone system. Then there's the Guardian Pediatric Model, approved for ages 7-17, and the only difference between it and the adult model is that the low threshhold can't be set below 90, and can't be turned off. Minimed's Paradigm is very much like the Guardian, except that the receiver is also an insulin pump (the 722 model), and it has fewer features on the receiver. Hope that helped! Jonah
