[Diabetes-talk] Solo V2 Announcement

Tue Mar 30 04:55:24 UTC 2010

Mike and the Diabetes-Talk Member List,

Mike, as our president, I am answering you first and will get back to all 
others who have had questions or comments. I had been away for 5 days if 
anyone had missed my statements in my messages last week.

in response to your posting, I will handle the notes in numeric reverse 
order.

(2) The statement of the need to extend the time to test I approached as a 
medical necessity. I have had diabetes for nearly 48 years now and to make 
light of it, I am a skimpy bleeder. With a degree of neuropathy and after 
affects from arthritis medicines I have taken for over 10 years, finding the 
location of the puncture site is sometimes an issue. I have been testing my 
blood glucose for over 25 years when I used the Accu-Chek Freedom prior to 
using the Accu-Chek Voice Mate and then the Prodigy Voice. I have shared 
with my doctors I have problems from October 1st through April 1 the next 
year due to cold and drier conditions in New Jersey. I will give Jordan 
Benis credit with his insuring me if I was more diligent in applying skin 
conditioner to my finger tips I would have less problems and he was right. 
This though did not completely correct my bleeding all the time with my 
tough skin and scarring from all the tests I have done. For you as a 5 year 
diabetic, I am glad you have not yet had any of these problems and hopefully 
never will.
Why did I suggest five minutes, I found the three minutes was too 
frustrating for me as I have taken 10 minutes or more of multiple pokes, 
(frown) and still not be certain of the accuracy of my results. I saw the 
redesign of the Accu-Chek Voice Mate, medically approved in Canada but not 
yet FDA in the US, to have extended the test time to 6 minutes but thought 
that would not affectively aid in the test and may lessen the battery life 
and require more frequent battery changes and may not be worth the time 
extension. I have included every trick to aid in my bleeding I know, i.e. 
warming my hands, shaking my hands, tapping or scratching the planned 
puncture site, etc. I would test at least twice and often a third when I had 
too large a difference in my results (the 20 percent deviations allowed by 
the FDA).
I am aware of blind and visually impaired diabetic clients of rehab nurse 
trainers and CDEs of having difficulty locating the blood while being 
trained and then afterwards. Many people due to loss of sight later in life, 
multiple disabilities and a plethora of other reasons may have difficulty 
and the time extension from a "usability" point-of-view, may assist in their 
lessening of problem situations and thus a continuation to test.

(1) You are very in tune with believing time may be the real test for the 
low blood sample verification. I know with my 3 or 4 weeks of testing I only 
had one "not enough blood" though I am aware someone else had gotten the low 
sample error message more often. Personally, if I see my HGBA1C results 
lowering, I believe this will support the blood sample volume level 
verification. Any other meter and strip today will give results, though 
inaccurate, without enough blood. Some of the sighted testers may get some 
type of error or visual indicator on the strip if insufficient to aid them 
in their testing. How this technically works for the Solo V2 with the low 
blood message to me is a new generation of blood glucose monitors and 
strips. If true to its design, this  may be the best new addition to assist 
us diabetics whom are visually impaired and blind.

Vinny
Vincent Chaney Jr
NFB Diabetes Action Network (DAN) Board
NFBNJ Diabetes Division President
NJAGDU Division President
NFBNJ Technology Division Vice President
NFBNJ.ORG Webmaster
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Mike Freeman" <k7uij at panix.com>
To: "Diabetes Talk for the Blind" <diabetes-talk at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Thursday, March 25, 2010 10:27 PM
Subject: Re: [Diabetes-talk] Solo V2 Announcement

Vincent:

(1) Before you wax too sanguine about the new meter's ability to accurately
detect low blood, I think at least four tests per day for at least three
months are required to be sure. It's one of the things that gripes me about
a lot of medical reporting these days; the testing isn't nearly rigorous
enough for my taste. So while I am not contradicting you, I'm saying that
perhaps all of us should "wait and see".

(2) What's this jazz about three minutes not being enough time for a blind
person to "prepare the test"? I say not testing within thirty seconds
jeopardizes your test result. Moreover, I consider advocating a longer time
before auto-shut-off denigrates our abilities as blind persons! If I can't
get a test result within a minute, methinks I ought to do some serious
practicing with a diabetes educator!

Just one opinionated curmudgeon's view.

Mike Freeman

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Vincent Chaney" <vgc732 at optonline.net>
To: <Diabetes-Talk at nfbnet.org>
Cc: "Vincent G Chaney Jr" <vgc732 at optonline.net>
Sent: Monday, March 22, 2010 8:03 PM
Subject: [Diabetes-talk] Solo V2 Announcement

> To The NFB Members,
>
>
>
> I am honored to have been given the okay that I would announce that there
> is another Fully Audible Glucometer available for NFB members that are
> visually impaired and have diabetes. This meter has been in development
> for the last 16 months and the NFB New Jersey Diabetes Division was very
> instrumental in the design phase. We were chosen for the first public
> announcement of the Solo V2 at our March 2010 NFB NJ Diabetes Division
> meeting.
>
> The SOLO V2, manufactured by Biosense Medical Devices, was officially
> approved by the FDA on March 2nd and we now have a choice. They are the
> 2nd meter to receive 'Fully Audible' status meaning the SOLO V2 will walk
> you through every step of the process from set up to obtaining test
> results.
>
>
>
> Since the announcement of the Solo V2, Biosense (manufacture) entered into
> a strategic agreement with Advanced Diabetic Solutions to distribute this
> product.  Advanced Diabetic Solutions has ensured me their customer
> service representatives are very well trained to address any questions or
> concerns about the new Solo V2. As most of you know, since we have been
> doing business with Advanced Diabetic Solutions in the NFB NJ and on the
> Diabetes-Talk, we have been well supported by their staff.
>
> I am in regular contact with the owners of Advanced Diabetic Solutions and
> they have allocated their initial shipment for our NFB members. ADS has
> set up 3 extensions dedicated for the NFB DAN to use. Their main number is
> 1-888-377-6382 with X7002, X7004 and X7027 especially for us from the NFB
> DAN.
>
>
>
> The leadership team at Biosense did a phenomenal job reaching out to
> members like myself to get feedback to make sure this meter is truly
> 'FULLY AUDIBLE" and accessible through working with us, the blind.
>
>
>
> Two personal examples I want to share. They were originally going to
> program the glucometer to automatically shut off after 3 minutes. I
> quickly provided my input stating that 3 minutes was not enough time to
> prepare the puncture site. Two weeks later, the meter is now programmed to
> shut off in 5 minutes which gives us as visually impaired and blind
> individuals plenty of time to prepare our blood sample.
>
>
> One other feature I wanted to highlight was their ability to have the Solo
> V2 give audible error messages. One example that comes to mind, and gives
> me a lot of confidence, is their audible output that warns the user there
> is not enough blood on the strip. If your blood sample is too small it
> actually speaks, "Not Enough Blood, Please Test Again!". In today's old
> technology world, if we do not get enough blood on any meter, we get a
> FALSE low reading. We all know this could have serious consequences if we
> acted every time we received a reading that was not accurate.
>
>
>
> In summary, the Solo V2 is the only other Fully Audible meter on the
> market today. It has the most voice prompts and was truly built to meet
> the needs of visually impaired customers.
>
>
>
> If you want more information, please call Advanced Diabetic Solutions toll
> free at 1-888.377.6382, extension 7027 or Tina Rockwell. The ADS Website
> is: www.advanceddiabeticsolutions.net If you want additional Solo V2
> information, please go to their website at www.SoloMeters.com. The entire
> website was build to fully integrate with our screen readers and they have
> download software for the Solo V2 that allows us to download our blood
> glucose levels. In addition, if you or your affiliate, chapter or local
> DAN want more information or training, please reach out to Advanced
> Diabetic Solutions.
>
>
>
> Vinny
>
> Vincent Chaney Jr
> NFB Diabetes Action Network (DAN) Board
> NFBNJ Diabetes Division President
> NJAGDU Division President
> NFBNJ Technology Division Vice President
> NFBNJ.ORG Webmaster
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