FreeStyle Navigator
Continuous BG Monitor
Made by Abbott Laboratories, the makers of the Freestyle meters, this is still in the pipeline, awaiting FDA approval.
This Continuous Blood Glucose Monitor features what Abbott call their "wired enzyme" technology and because of this they feel they have achieved sufficient sensitivity and accuracy to replace, not just compliment, the existing finger prick readings. My dream come true at last??????..........Well........
Like the Guardian RT it has a sensor that is inserted by the patient, using a special device, just under the skin. The sensor is attached to a plastic mount that adheres to the skin surface.
It measures the glucose levels every minute - that's 1440 readings a day! - for up to 5 days.
Then there is the transmitter which attaches to the sensor mount. The transmitter receives information wirelessly and passes it on in the same way to a receiver. This is about the size of a normal pager and can be worn in the same fashion, attached to a belt or in your pocket or handbag.
It has a display that shows glucose readings and the novel trend arrows that show whether a patient's blood glucose is rising or falling. It also has alarms that can be pre-set to warn of highs, lows and projected abnormal values.
There is also the ability to enter in such things as when you ate, what exercise you did and how much insulin you injected.
Though they claim to make us free of finger pricks the little complication of calibration still rears it's ugly head. The Navigator requires to be calibrated at 1, 3 and 24 hours on the first day of use, but not again until the sensor is replaced - and how? - with a finger prick of course.
Freestyle have made it a little easier by incorporating a Freestyle blood glucose meter into the receiver of the Navigator, which enters the values directly.
The sensor and transmitter are made so that you can shower, bath or swim with them in and they are not affected by sweating so strenuous exercise is okay. The receiver, however, is not waterproof (It is not really possible to make something that incorporates a slot for a test strip truly waterproof). It has up to a ten foot range, so can be placed on the windowsill, loo or vanity slab while bathing, or on a bedside table at night.
Considering that 10 foot range I find the concept that one can swim with it interesting. I figure they do nor mean very far or very fast. The only way that I could see it being possible was if you had a very fit friend who was prepared to run up and down the side of the pool, keeping within 10 feet of you, while you did laps. Barring that he could hire a boat and circle you while you frolicked in the sea............hmm, some interesting challenges here!
It will be interesting to see how it goes once the FDA has approved it and also once it has won approval in other countries. I suspect that like most of these devices it will be out of the average mans price range. I could be wrong, we will have to wait and see.
For more information and to get a look see FreeStyle Navigator