670G Approved!

okulyd

Medtronic's 670G approved! I'll be getting this as soon as its ready to ship which should be around April 2017. This approval is way earlier than expected so I'm sure Medtronic is scrambling to figure out how to meet the demand.

I am a bit disappointed that it only comes in the larger size. But, its waterproof, has a new more customizable interface, new Enlite 3 sensor which makes it much better than my current model.
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/fda-approves-first-artificial-pancreas-type-1-diabetes-medtronic-minimed-670g/

T1DCarnivoreRunner

A T1D friend (whom I actually know through politics) sent me the story yesterday. I originally told him about it a couple weeks ago and the release date was expected to be April 2017 at that time. To me, the big difference of auto basal makes me both excited and anxious. The 11% improvement in CGM with the new sensor helps ease some of that anxiety.

Here's the thing that nobody has mentioned... nobody has asked about it, nobody from Medtronic has addressed it, and AFAIK, I'm the only one that has even noticed: How is the new CGM even more reliable (10.3%) than the meter that is used to calibrate it?! (Assuming that the Bayer Contour Next Link has 95% of results within +/- 15% of reference results).

I think I've found a reasonable answer to my question: +/- 15% is the FDA requirement, so Bayer is just trying to be careful about "promising" or advertising better results.

The Bayer Contour Next EZ (very similar to the Link, but doesn't communicate with pump) has independently (source from peer-reviewed journal below) been shown to have >99% of results within +/- 10% of the reference result. If the Link is the same, then that shows the CGM follows almost perfectly with the meter to which it is calibrated.

Source: Pflug B. Warchal-Windham ME, Goldy A, Chu A. Analytical accuracy evaluation of the CONTOUR® XT blood glucose meter. J Diabetes Sci Technol. 2013;7(1):281–284. A107.

okulyd

I think they changed the Bayer. The 630G comes with Contour NextLink 2. I would assume that the 760G would also come with the Contour NextLink 2. If this is true it might explain the change in accuracy although as you said nobody has explained this!

T1DCarnivoreRunner

okulyd wrote: »

I think they changed the Bayer. The 630G comes with Contour NextLink 2. I would assume that the 760G would also come with the Contour NextLink 2. If this is true it might explain the change in accuracy although as you said nobody has explained this!

Right - Bayer makes Contour meters. Medtronic Minimed has been using Bayer Contour Next meters with the "Link" modification to communicate wirelessly with pumps for awhile, so that isn't necessarily new to either the 630G or the 670G. Previously, they had done something similar with Lifescan One Touch meters that were programmed to communicate wirelessly with the pump, but that was last used prior to 530G / Enlites. I had the One Touch meter with my 723 pump and Sof-Sensors.

okulyd

Right. But they have done work and developed another version of the Contour Next. Contour next came out in 2010 (I think, I participated in a trial to test that meter before it was released so have been using it a really long time). It links to Medtronic's pumps.

With the release of the 640G they released the Contour Next 2.4. It doesn't say the difference between the new one and the old one but I suspect that has something to do with the improved accuracy.

https://diabetes.ascensia.co.uk/products/contour-next-range-of-meters/contour-next-link-and-next-link-24-meters/overview/

T1DCarnivoreRunner

What is the reliability on the Contour Next 2.4? That's a good question... They use the same strips that Bayer advertises meets ISO 15197:2013 / EN ISO 15197:2015 standards (95% of results must be within +/- 15% of reference results, etc.). Once again, I suggest that Bayer is advertising conservatively, but I haven't found anything yet to show reliability of those strips with the Contour Next 2.4. It might be that no study has been published or it might be that I need to look in other places. I do have access to a few scientific journal repositories that I haven't had a chance to search yet.... might look into it later.

okulyd

It seems that the Contour Next 2.4 has the added ability to program a bolus with the 630g pump. I didn't think that this was going to be a useful feature but I have since used it several times and it works really well. Its kind of nice to not have to reach for the pump and push a bunch of buttons to give a bolus you can do it right when you check your blood sugar using only your meter. As far as accuracy goes it seems just like the older Contour Next.

okulyd

Also while the new pump is larger its not much bigger. This is a non-issue for me. Also if anyone had the 700 series Medtronic pumps I think this new model is smaller than those.