[Diabetes-Talk] TandemMobi pump hands on experience

[Patricia Maddix]

Hello friends,
Wanted to share my exciting experience.
I met with my Tandem rep on Saturday and was able to play around with her personal Mobi pump and paired iPhone. She uses the MOBI herself. I did a cartridge and site change for her on her pump and was able to get voice over to perform all functions on the iPhone app. Measuring out an exact dose of insulin in the cartridge is not possible but the cartridge holds only 200 units. With practice a person could probably figure out how to put in 100 units  approximately or use the full 200 units by pulling the plunger all the way back. I know that many people fill their cartridges completely and then change out just their infusion site every two or three days until the insulin in the cartridge is gone. This is not FDA approved, but people do it. I took an insulin pen that I have to see if you could hook it on the cartridge syringe  needle, and in that way, measure out an exact dose of insulin to put into the syringe. It does fit over the needle very nicely, but I have not yet tried to dial up a precise dose and put it in a practice syringe that I have. Cannot see why this wouldn’t work, so would be a great workaround for measuring precise amount of insulin.  There is a new optional infusion set that is only 5 inches long that allows people to wear  the pump using a little sleeve with adhesive backing that is attached to the body resembling  what it’s like to wear a patch pump. The pump can be worn in the shower and swimming and it goes through all TSA devices. . The actual iPhone app works much much better than the simulator program that is on the Tandem website. Voiceover  on the simulator has a lot of problems although I was able to get through most but not all of the screens. On the pump app itself it goes much more smoothly. It would initially take a sighted person to coach someone along as to where the different buttons are located as you sometimes have to jump around the screen to find the done button or the finish buttons similar to on the current bolus feature. There is supposed to be a simulator app available on the iOS App Store very soon and then we can see if it works more like the real app. I am very excited as this may be a pump that I would be comfortable with using independently. The pump is very tiny and lightweight and would fit in the coin pocket of a pair of jeans. More members of our task force are going to get the opportunity to work with demos of the pump and give feedback. 
They do have the proper billing code for Medicare, so Medicare patients also should be able to get the pump but it’s a little murky as to whether Medicare patients with time left on pump warranties will be able to upgrade before the end of their warranty. Hopefully will get this information clarified soon.
This pump came on the market as of February 12 for sale to the public.
Patricia

Sent from my iPhone