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The benefits of Integrated CGM vs standalone system

It is very handy having wireless capability on the Dexcom receiver but it's not so much of an extra convenience that I ever carry the Dexcom receiver in addition to the Vibe pump. I have considered doing for driving though, as operating the CGM on the non-wireless pump is frankly dangerous while driving. They do not seem to have thought through the whole issue of driving with a (non remote) pump, let alone a non remote CGM.

There is very little practical integration between the Vibe and the Dexcom sensor, by design as I mentioned. There is a Chinese wall between the two and apart from carrying one less device and saving lotsa money, you might as well be using a separate receiver.

So no, I don't think there are any benefits apart from cost and one less device. If anything there are drawbacks. The Vibe CGM display is cruder, with fewer functions, and of course is non remote.
 
I think you've hit the nail on the head in regards to my original post. There is a convenience and a cost saving, but there's no dialogue going on between the dexcom and the vibe. The vibe is essentially acting as a receiver with no other functionality benefit from CGM/pump integration.

If using the dexcom receiver for exercise, does it have to be on me or will it still receive if in another part of a big room (like an exercise studio)?
 
Jemzor said:
If using the dexcom receiver for exercise, does it have to be on me or will it still receive if in another part of a big room (like an exercise studio)?
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If you are in line of sight you can be up to 20 feet away and it should record fine. There is some kind of retry function on the sensor as well so it can miss some data and pick it up within (I think) 5 min or so. I have even seen it work when the receiver is on the floor above (wooden floors though), but that's less reliable.

I suppose that's one benefit of using the Vibe as the receiver is that it's more likely to remain in range as it's almost always attached to your body. Having said that, I have had connection failures when the sensor is on one side of my body and the Vibe is on the other side, particularly when in bed. Believe it or not. Whereas the Dexcom receiver you just leave on the bedside table and it's fine all night.
 
Jemzor said:
The vibe is essentially acting as a receiver with no other functionality benefit from CGM/pump integration.
Click to expand...
Theoretically of course Animas could issue a firmware update for the pump that improved the integration. Or an open source project (ie a hack) could do this. In fact there are confidential ways to improve the integration, because this is what happens when they use Vibes for artificial pancreas projects. But they must use secret cheat codes or maybe even physically reprogram the pump to do this.
 
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