[Diabetes-talk] Dexcom SHARE - I can read the current BG reading on my iPhone using Voiceover

Sun Nov 9 02:41:04 UTC 2014

Hi Tom,

That is so fantastic!  I can not wait till I can operate my own CGM, too.

Joy

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Tom and Eileen Rivera Ley via Diabetes-talk" 
<diabetes-talk at nfbnet.org>
To: "'Mike Freeman'" <k7uij at panix.com>; "'Diabetes Talk for the Blind'" 
<diabetes-talk at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Saturday, November 08, 2014 5:27 PM
Subject: Re: [Diabetes-talk] Dexcom SHARE - I can read the current BG 
reading on my iPhone using Voiceover

> Hi Mike,
>
> Thanks. I read a little more about the Dexcom Share product on the web, 
> and
> in fact, it did require FDA approval, so I had that wrong. However, the 
> time
> was relatively short, as FDA approvals go,  about a year-and-a-half.
>
> If you read the following post on the Diabetes Mine web site, it provides
> some interesting background, and some hints about where Dexcom hopes to go
> with their fifth generation (5G) CGM. Now is the time to approach Dexcom
> about accessibility in their next generation products.
>
> http://www.diabetesmine.com/2014/10/newsflash-dexcom-share-gets-fda-clearanc
> e.html
>
> For me, getting the current reading on my CGM via my iPhone is a game
> changer. I've had the Dexcom SHARE system in place now for four days, and 
> I
> still get a little charge of excitement every time I open the Dexcom 
> follow
> app and read my current blood sugar! Then I usually just leave the app 
> open
> for a few minutes until the number is updated, which happens automatically
> every five minutes.
>
> Tom
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Mike Freeman [mailto:k7uij at panix.com]
> Sent: Thursday, November 06, 2014 2:33 PM
> To: 'Tom and Eileen Rivera Ley'; 'Diabetes Talk for the Blind'
> Subject: RE: [Diabetes-talk] Dexcom SHARE - I can read the current BG
> reading on my iPhone using Voiceover
>
> Tom:
>
> This is a great post! I commend you for your out-of-the-box thinking and
> imaginative/innovative thought in coming up with this solution to your 
> CGMS
> inaccessibility problem!
>
> Actually, I suspect that FDA did do some sort of certification on the iOS
> apps in that their policy adopted earlier this year said they were going 
> to
> do so when apps might be used to control medical devices. But perhaps
> there's the loophole right there: one is still presumed to operate the 
> CGMS
> device primarily through its visual display and the iOS apps merely enable
> the readings to be conveyed in other ways.
>
> Mike
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Diabetes-talk [mailto:diabetes-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of
> Tom and Eileen Rivera Ley via Diabetes-talk
> Sent: Tuesday, November 04, 2014 7:16 PM
> To: diabetes-talk at nfbnet.org
> Subject: [Diabetes-talk] Dexcom SHARE - I can read the current BG reading 
> on
> my iPhone using Voiceover
>
> Hi everyone,
>
> Dexcom is one of the companies that develops and sells continuous glucose
> monitoring systems (CGM). For more information on their current CGM model,
> the Dexcom G4 Platinum CGM, you can visit www.dexcom.com
>
> These devices are not accessible, no matter which company's CGM you
> purchase. However, I have used one for several years now. I require 
> sighted
> assistance to set up the system, and sighted assistance a minimum of twice
> per day to enter a current blood glucose reading from a blood glucose 
> meter
> for system calibration. Even though they are not accessible, I use a CGM
> because the CGM can be configured to alert you when your blood glucose 
> level
> goes above or below values you set.
>
> For instance, the CGM gives me an audible alert and vibrates whenever my
> blood glucose rises above 160. It also alerts me (with a different 
> sounding
> tone and different vibration pattern) when my blood glucose goes below 70,
> and it gives a particularly urgent alert when it goes below 55.
>
> I find this very helpful. It wakes me up in the middle of the night when 
> my
> blood glucose gets low, and let's me know when I'm going out of range on 
> the
> high side so I can take corrective action if warranted. The CGM has even
> more valuable information on the screen, such as the current blood glucose
> reading, an indication using arrows if the blood glucose is steady, or
> rising or falling, and how fast, along with a graph of your blood glucose
> for the last 1, 3, 6, 12 or 24 hours. But none of this information is
> accessible.
>
> Last Wednesday, Dexcom announced a new product that works with their G4
> Platinum CGM called Dexcom SHARE. It was designed primarily to meet the
> needs of parents who wanted access to the CGM readings of their children
> when their children were at school or away from home. The Dexcom SHARE
> system is made up of the Dexcom SHARE cradle (which costs $299), two free
> iPhone apps, and the G4 Platinum CGM itself. The person using the CGM is
> known as the sharer and the person remotely viewing the sharer's CGM 
> reading
> is known as the follower.
>
> Basically, the sharer, the person wearing the CGM,  downloads the Dexcom
> Share app to their iPhone or iPod or iPad. They plug in the cradle and 
> slide
> the CGM receiver/display unit into the cradle. Then they pair the cradle 
> via
> Bluetooth with their iPhone using the Dexcom Share app. The cradle sends 
> the
> CGM data to the iPhone and the iPhone uploads the data to the Dexcom
> servers. The sharer then uses the Dexcom Share app to invite up to five
> people to follow their CGM readings. The Share app sends an email to the
> followers you invite.
>
> If you are a follower, when you receive the invitation email, you download
> the Dexcom Follow app onto your own iPhone or iPod or iPad and use the
> information in the invitation email to connect to the Dexcom server to 
> begin
> to receive the CGM data from the Sharer. Note that the Dexcom Share app 
> and
> the Follow app are two different apps.
>
> So, to summarize all of this fairly complicated sending and receiving of
> data, the blood glucose readings come from the CGM, go into the cradle, 
> are
> sent to the sharer's iPhone, where they are uploaded to Dexcom servers, 
> and
> then sent from there down to the follower's iPhone where they can be 
> viewed.
>
> I immediately bought the system, because I wanted to see what would happen
> if I put the share app and the follow app both on my iPhone. In essence, I
> am "following" my own CGM readings with myself. And, it works. The apps
> themselves are accessible using Voiceover. I setup the system using the
> Share app, invited myself to follow, and installed the follow app on my
> iPhone too.
>
> My CGM is in the cradle right now. If I want to know the current blood
> glucose reading, I just open the Follow app on my iPhone and read it. And,
> since the CGM provides a new reading every five minutes, if I check back 
> in
> five minutes or so, I can see how much it rose or fell, if at all, which
> gives me an good idea of the trend. It is not anywhere the same thing as
> having an accessible CGM. But, it does give me much more information than 
> I
> could ever get before from my CGM. The Dexcom SHARE system was not 
> designed
> so blind people could get partial CGM information on their iPhones, but it
> can be used for that.
>
> The other benefit of knowing the current reading on my CGM is that I think 
> I
> can now calibrate the CGM twice a day on my own - without sighted
> assistance. The big problem with calibrating the system was that you had 
> to
> enter your current blood glucose into the system, and  the screen for
> calibrating always puts the current CGM reading in as the starting point.
> So, if the CGM current reading was 203, and my current actual blood 
> glucose
> is 215, I would have to adjust the reading using the arrow buttons on the
> CGM from 203 up to 215. This is not a problem, as long as you know the
> starting point. Now, with the Follow app, I do know the current reading 
> and
> I will be able to calibrate the system with a fairly high level of
> confidence on my own I believe.
>
> Note that I don't think the Dexcom SHARE system required any FDA approval 
> as
> far as I know. So, it should be very easy to add additional functionality 
> to
> the follow app to provide even more information to a blind person.
>
> Also note that although in general, CGM devices are covered by many
> insurance companies, although not all, the Dexcom SHARE system is not
> covered by insurance. It costs $299, and you and the followers have to be
> using an IOS devices; Android based devices are not currently supported.
>
> Tom
>
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