Does anyone think this will be useful?
One thing I would say is that the videos were incredibly annoying from a shear lack of information given.
- Is it strips?
- Is there a sensor built into the phone?
- How many times can you use it?
- Can you lance the side of your finger?
- How many tests does it give you?
- Is it reusable?
Is their “great idea” that you can share the information? That is not too terribly useful to me.
I know catchy marketing is one thing, but I sure would’ve like some more info with video instead of the catchy tune. Come on marketing people, use some words with info! Inquiring diabetic minds want to know!
Since the video didn’t tell me much, I hunted around for more info…
http://www.healthline.com/diabetesmine/pops-diabetes-smartphone-glucose-meter
So then the key point came out to me. 3 tests…
Yeah, um…not really of any value to me at all. Leaving the house with the ability to do only 3 tests, not really what I am looking for.
I am puzzled by the love affair with the phone stuff. It automatically notifies your doctor what your BG is. But I’d rather be able to test more times instead of telling my doctor what my BG is.
Sharing a single and totally random test value with a doctor? I just don’t get that. They always look at large numbers of test results and look for trends. Does anyone’s doctor look at a single test say, “Hey, Larry was 87 at 3:46 pm today. Great job Larry!”
Anyway, sorry Chris, this probably seems like a rant. I guess I am just totally puzzled!
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No I was kind of puzzled as well, that’s why I posted it. It does look like you can pop out the guts and get three more tests, but I agree we test more than that on a regular basis, even with a CGM present.
I think you can lance the side of your finger by turning it, but honestly, getting a clean lance for every test isn’t one of our priorities.
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I couldn’t quite believe what you wrote about this – but I read up on it and it seems you are correct, this is so puzzling. Who in heaven would go out with three strips?
I feel bad writing that, because I badly want to help any company set up to help diabetics.
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Well there is one interesting thing, when you watch someone test it is quite a bit faster than a pouch in a bag…
More akin to what our intrepid marathoner is doing to test during runs, but there are still some kinks to work out obviously.
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Michel, you know you should always believe what I write…
I am curious about the phone thing too. Is that really a valid use-case for anyone? Sending a BG reading to your endo when you are not even in the office? Does anyone do that. It’s almost like the people designing this are not actually diabetics or trying to solve a problem that does not exist.
It’s like what I was discussing with Doc, I would love if someone were to create a super portable and easy BG tester, with easy strip dispensing. But I guess we will have to do it…
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I would guess it’s for people like my dad who is T2. he is supposed to test 3, maybe 4 times a day because he’s not on insulin. So maybe for them? But I agree, of no use to us. We actually test our son less than that but when we do we care most about accuracy and he’s already got a bag full of stuff, a meter and strips is no added inconvenience really.
For T2 it makes some sense I guess. Wasn’t thinking about that.
Is that attachment easily replaceable? If that were the case, I guess instead of carrying strips and meter, one would carry a few sets of the tricolor thing, and attach it to the phone as they are consumed.
It seems to me that most business models like to use the razor/razorblade model. The money is made in the blades, the consumables. The Polaroid model was the same. Cameras were “loss leaders” but necessary to introduce newer, “latest” film technology which was ENORMOUSLY profitable.
Some of the existing diabetic accessories may seem peculiar and “invasive” for us, the users. When I mentioned to my non diabetic friends about CGM - it’s often met with a look of horror, fear and bewilderment. That we would have something inserted in us 24/7 for the purposes of monitoring. I would LOVE to be able to develop a useful blood sugar measuring/monitoring device that make sense for us!
Well there are two approaches to doing a non-invasive sensor that have the most merit. The one that has been tried the most has been measuring at the skin, the issues here are the sample is very removed from your blood glucose, and so various systems pass electricity into your skin to try and collect a more concentrated sample. In the past, most of these have caused irritation in many users. Think Glucowatch.
The second approach will eventually be the one that wins, and that is infra-red measurements like oxygen measurements. Unfortunately, the window that being made of water allows, means instead of a primary absorption peak like oxygen, we are stuck with a peak that is 100 times smaller than the primary absorption peak, making the measurement of glucose difficult without serious computing power. Now as computing power gets smaller and cheaper someone will crack this nut and have a seriously awesome non-invasive sensor.
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