My wife has been a type 1 diabetic for 30 years. When she was a kid her pancreas just quit working and produces no insulin. She has been on an insulin pump for over 10 years now and it has made her life easier.
At the beginning of this year, she upgraded to the Medtronic 670G system. It uses a continuous glucose monitoring sensor along with the insulin pump. The sensor reads her blood sugar every 5 minutes and sends it to the pump. The pump makes any adjustments needed. If her BG level starts to drop under a set level, the system will suspend the insulin delivery. This is the closest thing to an artificial pancreas so far. Her blood sugars have been doing much better as a result. They were not bad before but as anyone with diabetes will tell you, there is always room for improvement.
The CGM (continuous glucose monitoring) sensor stays on her for 7 days then needs changed out. The inset for the pump gets changed every 3 days. She checks her blood sugar about 4-5 times daily just to keep the CGM sensor calibrated. All of her readings are uploaded to her Dr. every week. He can make changes as needed.
The system is not cheap, even with good insurance. But for the results she's getting, I think it's worth it.
If you are/know of a insulin dependent diabetic, I would really recommend looking into this system. As of right now, Medtronic is the only company making a complete system. There are other companies that make insulin pumps and CGM's but they are not a "closed loop system" yet.
https://www.medtronicdiabetes.com/products/minimed-670g-insulin-pump-system
This is a pic of what the whole system is.
If you have any questions, feel free to pm me. I'll try to help answer anything I can.
At the beginning of this year, she upgraded to the Medtronic 670G system. It uses a continuous glucose monitoring sensor along with the insulin pump. The sensor reads her blood sugar every 5 minutes and sends it to the pump. The pump makes any adjustments needed. If her BG level starts to drop under a set level, the system will suspend the insulin delivery. This is the closest thing to an artificial pancreas so far. Her blood sugars have been doing much better as a result. They were not bad before but as anyone with diabetes will tell you, there is always room for improvement.
The CGM (continuous glucose monitoring) sensor stays on her for 7 days then needs changed out. The inset for the pump gets changed every 3 days. She checks her blood sugar about 4-5 times daily just to keep the CGM sensor calibrated. All of her readings are uploaded to her Dr. every week. He can make changes as needed.
The system is not cheap, even with good insurance. But for the results she's getting, I think it's worth it.
If you are/know of a insulin dependent diabetic, I would really recommend looking into this system. As of right now, Medtronic is the only company making a complete system. There are other companies that make insulin pumps and CGM's but they are not a "closed loop system" yet.
https://www.medtronicdiabetes.com/products/minimed-670g-insulin-pump-system
This is a pic of what the whole system is.
If you have any questions, feel free to pm me. I'll try to help answer anything I can.
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