We had our endo appt today and were told that they met with Insulet within the last two weeks and they talked about the integration with Navigator and Dexcom being complete within the year - perhaps as early as March. Also that there is a new flatter pod in the works. Don't know how true it is, but thought I would pass it along in case others are hearing similar things. Our endo seemed very excited about the flatter pod point. Lorraine
I heard the same thing about a flatter pod. Our nurse at the endo's office said she was told from the Insulet rep that it would be out in September. Don't know how true that is...since no one was mentioning it I thought she might have misunderstood....hopefully it is true and coming soon
Honestly, I'm not sure why this would be better than currently available options: - You still have 2 infusion sites, that will not change. - The onipod PDM is large and does not have an integrated belt clip. Normally people who use the omnipod don't wear the PDM, they leave it nearby. - The current CGM receivers are better designed for belt-clip or hidden-under-the-clothing wear than the PDM. In the case of the Guardian, it's water-resistant enough to swim with (unoficially, of course) and small enough to tuck inside of clothing, whereas the PDM is larger and not at all water-friendly. So unless the new CGM-integrated PDM is smaller, water-resistant, and better designed for continous wear, I'm not sure if it will be better than current solutions. The smaller/flatter pod, however, would certainly be well received.
Darryl, I have higher hopes for the CGM: If they can get 2 sites under one pod it would be wonderful. A traditional site that attaches to a port in the pod would be okay too, and maybe allow for more placement options, since you don't need a tube. The PDM as it stands is fine for me, I don't see why it would need to be any smaller or waterproof. As long as the pod has the ability to alarm without the PDM present (coded a certain way for highs/lows and trends) then I can always move the PDM in range to view the actual number. The pod should tolerate being away from the PDM without losing sensor data. When it's in range, it automatically uploads all the missed readings, during the normal status handshake.
Particularly for little kids who attend school, I see having one device as being a huge benefit. Just not having to carry around a separate glucose meter I find to be nice. I see the same benefit from integrating the PDM and CGMS receiver. Lo
I could be wrong, but I don't believe that there are any plans to integrate the sensor into the pod. From what I understand, it's only a PDM/software integration.
Our Omnipod rep told us during training that they were attempting to integrate the sensor into the pod. One site out at each end. I won't even look at CGMS until Omnipod's version comes out. I want as few things as possible to carry around. And since someone said they're making the PDM 35% smaller, it will be even nicer.
I think Amy T. posted on her blog that she saw a prototype of one pod with two sites in it. Maybe that doesn't mean it will ever happen, but it does mean they are looking into it!
I stand corrected... Insulet appears to have displayed a concept of the two-cannula pod. It will be quite an engineering feat to pull that off, but I commend them for pushing the envelope.
Can I find any info about this online? I will check with our CDE at our appt tomorrow and see if she has any information. Unless we get blown away by TS Fay
A friend of ours whose daughter is also uses the pod mentioned that the rep told him the same thing just last week. I LOVE the concept, but I wonder if it can be done with accurate results. I thought the main reason the two needed to be separated was that the insulin concentration/saturation at the delivery point could skew the results of the CGM it the two were place too close together. Do I have this wrong? We would love a CGM and definitely would volunteer for another Omnipod study if they need us again
I've always heard that insulin would affect the sensor's accuracy, so the sites would need to be far enough apart that the insulin won't affect the sensor. An inch or two might be enough. There are several challenges I can see, though: 1) Two sites means two possible failure points. Failure of either site would result in discarding the pod. 2) The selection of the infusion site constrains the choice of the sensor site. 3) Whereas now, you need one infusion site each 3 days and a sensor site every 7 to 14 days, both sites will be changed every 3 days. That means a lot more holes are poked in the skin.
These are very good points to think about. We went through a bad batch of pods a month or so ago (five changes in a week). I can't imagine relying on two things within the same pod at least not until they have all the kinks worked out. Plus, we don't have a lot of real estate to work with on a four year old. I guess we will just have to wait and see but I don't want to get my hopes up just yet!
