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No innovations 3 years since introduction Libre?

Hill28

Well-Known Member
Messages
179
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Diet only
Dislikes
Uhm..diabetes
Time flies; it's already 3 years ago since the Freestyle Libre has been introduced in Europe. I wonder how it is possible that hardly any innovation has taken place on the product in all this time. This would be unthinkable for other tech-products.

Also, since the libre-system appears to rely on well-known technologies, isn't it strange that no other companies have developed alike systems, except for maybe Dexcom?

Have any of you noticed new alternative ways to monitor your blood glucose levels? Products that might have stayed unnoticed to me?

I would be very interested, since the last step missing for libre is an automatic warning when values turn bad. (And no I am not gonna wear an android watch on top of my sensor
 
Hill28 said:
I would be very interested, since the last step missing for libre is an automatic warning when values turn bad.
Click to expand...
What you are asking for is a CGM. These have been on the market for longer than the Libre.
The Libre is a Flash Glucose Monitor. Whilst it is continuously measuring your glucose levels, it stores this data on the sensor until you "flash" it with your receiver. The sensor has no mechanism to alert you or automatically transfer the data to your receiver.
A Continuous Glucose Meter (CGM) such as DexCom does not store the readings on the sensor, it transmits these to a reader. The reader receives the readings in (near) real time and can alert when you go out of range or rise or fall too quickly.
For both, the reader may be a dedicated device or may be an app on something else such as a phone or a pump.
The CGM has the additional component - the transmitter. As a consequence, they are more expensive.

Regarding BG metering innovation, I believe this is happening but it is not so much new technology (I don't think the Libre used new technology 3 years ago) as getting the costs down to make them cost effective but still accurate and then getting the approval which can take years. For example, DVLA still does not accept any BG reading apart from finger pricks.
 
Thanks for your reply! I don't really mind if it's flash or continuous monitoring. As long as the part attached to your body is small, and the price is not too high. A while ago I read about a smart watch in development which apperently should be able to measure glucose. In this forum i also read some other rumours like the thing where you'd only have to touch a smart phone. But most of these stories never turn into something useable..

So I wonder which gadgets are close to a release or have been released recently.

Then.. If users can fix - rather unhandy- ways to turn the libre into a cgm, Abbot should be able to do better, no?
 
Eversense will probably be available very soon. I will be going to London at the weekend to see what it's all about. Medtrum will also be launching later this year with their cgm. Competition usually makes companies lower their prices so the more, the merryer
 
Hill28 said:
Have any of you noticed new alternative ways to monitor your blood glucose levels? Products that might have stayed unnoticed to me?
Click to expand...

Not a CGM but I quite liked the look of the following non-invasive bg monitor when it was announced:

http://www.gluco-wise.com/

Sure the release date was initially meant to be 2016/17 but the website says it's still under development.
 
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