The future is patch pumps (and I don’t think this is a new revelation). They are simpler, contain fewer parts for the end user, and have fewer parts to fail. If failure occurs, you simply throw away the patch and grab a new one. Looking at the future of infusion sets and canulas is pretty exciting (BD working on smaller Pen needles can eventually transfer to infusion sets).
I am an outsider to the Insulin Pump industry, and a relatively new user at that. I know some who have been on them since the ’70s. I started using a tubed pump in 2004 (Deltec Cozmo). However, the writing is on the wall so to speak as to the next natural transition for these devices – patch pumps (pods): tubeless, auto-insertion, cartridge built in, smaller.
The OmniPod has been out for a couple of years, and since then many of the kinks that I have read about seem to have been worked out (it’s still not great from a usability standpoint). The Jewel pump that is slated for release next year may have the ability to communicate with an Andriod mobile phone. The Solo and the Jewel are patch pumps that are semi-removable. OmniPod will eventually release a “pod” that is significantly smaller than the current model. MiniMed is working on one — however, from their IR presentations it seems that it took a bit of a back burner and was bumped farther down their pipeline.
Putting the CGM and Canula for insulin into the same auto-inserting patch? Sounds very feasible to me. You start to combine these different advances and you can see a product in the next 5-10 years that is very exciting. Yes, I am hinting at the first (more likely second) phase of an artificial pancreas that removes the complexity of the insertion devices, and combines the “stuff” into the fewest number of packages possible. Put on a single, tiny patch, get a canula each for insulin, glucagon, and CGM. At the other end would be a receiver. Most likely the receiver should be a mobile phone with some software to control the patch pump/cgm and has the artificial pancreas software installed. The software on the phone would automatically sync with a website and backup all my setting and records.
I admit there are a large number of baby steps involved before the device I imagine exists. However, the OmniPod is the device we should have had in the early 2000′s. Ideally, the development from small firms will push the large firms to develop the devices that will be the future of this industry.
Solo (recently acquired by Roche)
http://www.solo4you.com/
Jewel
http://www.jewelpump.com/
OmniPod (Insulet)
http://www.myomnipod.com/
Insulin infusion sites and CGM sensors will likely remain separate. The area around an infusion site naturally has a higher level of insulin and therefore a lower level of glucose. A sensor near an infusion site will always be inordinately influenced by bolus and basal insulin.
Jerry,
Totally agree with you in the short term. This will hopefully will change in 10+ years with the nano technology that I have seen B-D and others developing. The next generation of cannulas will be barely visable to the naked eye (and not really cannuals at all) and it will likely change the absorption of insulin (and hopefully the insulins change too – ala SmartInsulin). The patch pumps should become even more band-aid/patch like. There is a lot of technical stuff floating around about how deep these will actually go — and the same may be true for CGM sensors.
But the really interesting part is going to see all of these moving parts come together over the years.
-Cary
i like the cellnovo pump