10113r114m4 t1_j1iqnf8 wrote on December 24, 2022 at 6:14 PM

Reply to comment by FourDimensionalTaco in Despite improvements in insulin formulations and delivery over the last 30 years, diabetes control has not improved among US adults, and disparities for minority and uninsured adults worsens by Ordinarymangodoctor

I wasnt saying CGM was a huge improvement to diabetic life, it is. However, to engineer something like a CGM, especially in the mid 2000s wasnt difficult. Im an engineer not related to this field, but I feel like in 2 years, I could make a CGM machine, and that's me being generous with the time. All Im saying is there should be more innovation in this field, but yet, things crawl at a snails pace.

FourDimensionalTaco t1_j1jgc9z wrote on December 24, 2022 at 9:13 PM

Hell no. You completely miss the physiological aspect of this. The sensor filament that has all kinds of special coating to ward off filament degradation and to deal with other phenomena like what happens in the insertion site immediately post-insertion (which is a micro trauma, and the body reacts accordingly). You also miss how electronics in the mid 2000s was far less sophisticated. Creating a CGM transmitter that filters out sensor errors, performs extrapolations, temperature compensation (since the glucose-oxidase enzyme in sensor filaments is highly temperature sensitive), regularly communicates over radio the last N data points, AND can run off a small coin battery for over 90 days was just not doable. I also highly doubt that your makeshift CGM would have anywhere near the same MARD that a G6 has. And with bad MARD your CGM is near useless.

The one area where I agree is the combination of CGM and pump. That's why the WeAreNotWaiting movement exists. That is why projects like AndroidAPS and iOS loop exist. But your own CGM? Not going to happen. No way.