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Meter Upgrades *what would you do?*

S

Stuboy

Well-Known Member
Just for fun...

I was thinking the other day, if i could make improvements to my favourite meter, what would they be?

Well i use the OneTouch Ultrasmart meter, which is already a pretty funky machine and does a lot of logging... what would i do to improve it? And why? The rule is that it has to be realistic... and technologically possible.

OneTouch Ultrasmart
1. Include a bolus calculator with in the software.
- Im rubbish at maths so working out the bolus sometimes can take a while, which interupts with life!

2. Have an onboard food/carbs database.
- You know when you just dont know how many carbs are in 'that'? Look it up! Let's face it... the meter has a memory for 3000 readings... use some of that memory for a useful feature! Who actually looks at what your blood glucose was 3000 tests ago? Based on 7 tests a day, that would fill 428days worth of results... over a year!!!

3. Be able to delete BG readings if I want to.
- You know when your friends say "what would mine be?" For those special moments lol. And that silly faulty test strip that gives you a false reading (i had one today that was 1.2mmol/L!! i was actually 5.3!)

4. Self detecting control solution!!!
- The amount of times i've forgotten to change the option to 'Control' and had that reading down as a BG reading!! Ugh...

5. A nice colour screen!
- Just because it looks nice. Colour charts for in range and out of range numbers!?

6. Maybe get rid of those rubber buttons and have a nice touch screen.
- Sometimes the buttons have to be pressed quite hard to function (or is that just my meter!?) Also the symbols on the rubber buttons wear out sometimes... "Which button's for the meds entry again!?" (retorical question).


What would you do to make YOUR meter better, and why!?
 
Bernd Gruber is doing the project you are asking for - I emailed him & he phoned back.
Bernd Gruber said:
Hello everybody,

My company’s business (Lead Innovation Management) is innovation development and we are currently working on an innovation project on blood glucose meters.

The focus of our project is the integration of the users’ expectations and ideas, when it comes to developing new products.
We think the user knows best which functions and features a given device should have. Therefore people with diabetes know best how the ideal blood glucose meter looks like.

I would be highly interested in your thoughts and ideas.

If you are interessted in this project and want to improve the new blood glucose meters, just write me an email and I will get in contact with you.

Bernd Gruber
Lead Innovation Management Vienna
[email protected]
+43 19 29 40 37 (it is a number in Austria, so if you really want to call us, that's gonna be expensive, it's better, that you write me an email, and I call you)
Click to expand...
 
I'm type 2, & a competent mathematician so my needs are different.

I suggested:
Slimline meter say 10 cm x 2 x1
built in lancet, fully retractable
report features like the "one touch ultra" with on-board analysis
5 sec reading (needed for sport)
data transferrable to computer for analysis (very useful for discussion with Dr)
stack of push-out test strips (not a ring like the Breeze (I've never used my free gift) its sooo big & clumsy)

If they can do all they put into a mobil phone, they can put in in a BG meter. How about Internet access with this forum always available?
A talking meter would be a useful feature for many.
 
I'd quite like one that is part of my mobile phone! Maybe plug in via memory card slot. They coulb do it for windows mobile or symbian - 2 of the most popular operating systems. All the reporting etc can be downloaded from my pump and aviva tester into my palm pda now for reporting. The pda includes carb listings and bolus wizard. All it needs is a test strip reader to be plugged in somehow.
 
bonerp said:
I'd quite like one that is part of my mobile phone! Maybe plug in via memory card slot. They coulb do it for windows mobile or symbian - 2 of the most popular operating systems. All the reporting etc can be downloaded from my pump and aviva tester into my palm pda now for reporting. The pda includes carb listings and bolus wizard. All it needs is a test strip reader to be plugged in somehow.
Click to expand...

Tell Bernd!
 
mp3 player?

Either that or an ipod that would test my BS.
I carry a phone, ipod, pda and tester every day plus other bits and pieces, so anything that reduces the amount of expensive junk I feel I need to carry would be great
 
IanD said:
I'd quite like one that is part of my mobile phone!
Click to expand...
All you need is for the meter to be bluetooth enabled, then it could communicate with all sorts of phones, PDAs etc as well as wirelessly uploading data onto your desktop computer. If the right development tools were chosen it would be possible to support most modern devices. If an enterprising manufacturer with a sense of style chose to include iPhones with this, then that would make me very happy! Then it really would be possible to integrate your BG with the rest of your life. I don't know how big a market there would be for this sort of gadget but I would certainly be willing to shell out a significant amount of money for it. I'm not called DG for nothing ! 8)
 
I'd be happy with either a mini usb port or bluetooth instead of f*****g serial port connectors and IR when I don't have them on my pc or laptop.
 
I don't know what the bolus wizard does but what about being able to type in and store how much insulin you have taken. i have one of those paper diary things and i always forget to fill it in! :shock:
 
Nomi have you tried the Ultrasmart meter?

You can enter insulin amounts and carb, protein, fats and calories with this meter, as well has health check up info like HbA1c's, colesterol, blood pressure, eye exams, foot exams, weight&height, ketones.

you can have multiple insulin types on there as well, i have three set up on mine now, Rapid, levemir and correction. Althought my correction insulin is the same as the rapid bolus, it helps to identify on the reports in the PC software what the shot was for.

it's a meter & logbook all in one!
 
Stuboy said:
Nomi have you tried the Ultrasmart meter?

You can enter insulin amounts and carb, protein, fats and calories with this meter, as well has health check up info like HbA1c's, colesterol, blood pressure, eye exams, foot exams, weight&height, ketones.
Click to expand...
I have an Ultrasmart, and it is quite good in that you can at least enter this sort of data. However, it is quite cumbersome to use. If I can't drive it from my iPhone, I would at least like a more PDA type of interface (i.e. preferably using a touch screen, and definitely with some way of entering free text notes). Also, one thing which drives me up the wall is that there is no way of deleting an individual data entry. That means if you do a calibration, or have a contaminated reading, or stab an innocent non-diabetic then it will incorporate those values into your averages.
 
I would like a meter device in my mobile phone/pda/mp3 player. that way a computer program could be used with full diary facility. plus transfering data would far simpler. and it would be far more stylish considering the fact this meter is a large part of my day to day life.
 
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