It's always interesting to hear a patient's view on how medical technology works for them. Or not.
This blog entry by Karmel Allison on the diabetes advocacy website A Sweet Life, offers some fascinating insight into a patient and her pump. Specifically, her Medtronic Paradigm insulin pump.
Allison praises Medtronic's "substantial progress on developing algorithms that can reliably predict hypoglycemic events and preemptively suspend to prevent dangerous hypoglycemia. At the same time, they have been working on the other side of the equation—increasing insulin as the CGM wearer becomes dangerously hyperglycemic."
But in the end, her pump is still "big and plasticky," and she urges the Fridley-based company to develop a more ergonomic design for its pump. "While the passion and the love for data and the algorithm side is clear," she writes, "I don't see that the company ethos has an understanding of the aesthetic I really want—the user-friendly, this-wouldn't-look-weird-next-to-my-Louboutins aesthetic."
For the sensible-shoe crowd, just Google "Louboutin."
Postscript: Here's Medtronic spokeswoman Amanda Sheldon's comment on the post:
"Medtronic absolutely designs our insulin pump and continuous glucose monitors with the end-customer in mind, in this case a person with diabetes. This involves extensive market research to identify needs and determine features, user evaluations and a focus on human factors engineering throughout the design process. Leveraging talent from across multiple industries and disciplines, we are committed to bringing new products to market that are smaller, more accurate, easier-to-use and visually appealing to today's consumer."
Janet Moore covers medical technology for the Star Tribune.
