Can anyone think of a reasonable rationale behind Flash Glucose Monitoring (FGM)? All FGM systems currently available are equipped with Bluetooth to transmit BG measurements from the sensor to a receiving device. Hence there’s no technical necessity to scan a sensor to view BG values. IMHO the only reason to incorporate an artificial barrier in a glucose monitoring system is to maintain the illusion of a technical difference between FGM and CGM in order to comply with senseless coverage restrictions in certain countries.
In most countries the only FGM system available is the Freestyle Libre 2, but recently another one was launched in my country Glunovo Flash. The ‘flash’ element in this system is that the user has to tap a ‘Flash’ button in a smartphone app before viewing BG values, no NFC scanning involved whatsoever. Ditching NFC is progress compared to the FSL 2, but at the same time it seems an absolutely unnecessary barrier. Although I’m glad to have a glucose sensor, I’m also done with all the bad excuses for restricting CGM coverage.
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@Boerenkool The only thing I can think of is battery life, smaller device for smaller battery for same time of replacement as other systems?
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I don’t think so. The FSL 3 for example has a similar reader and smaller sensor than the FSL 2, but it is a CGM.
The FSL2 reader/smartphone app simply deletes all values received by Bluetooth after checking whether a high or low alert is necessary and then you need to retrieve all measurements again via NFC, which drains the reader’s battery.