Its been a little bit since my last post but I have a good reason for that. I chose my next post topic based heavily on last months trip to Roche and also to some buzz around twitter last week. Accuracy is something that is crucial for any Diabetic working to maintain stable blood sugars and a long life. Whether it is counting carbs, insulin intake based on your food and and activities or even accurate blood sugar result, all are influenced by accuracy and are a piece of the puzzle that is managing Diabetes. Accuracy was something I knew that I wanted to touch on but there are so many different ways to approach it, this was the reason for my delay in posting (a busy life had a little to do with it as well.) Now after a week of dwelling on it, I figured I would just start writing and see what comes of it. So be prepared for some possible ramblings.

When I was at the Social Media Summit last month, one of the lunchtime topics of discussion was technology. Me being the geek that I am, I figured that this would be of the most interest to me.Well, the discussion became much about Roches’ Blood Glucose meters and what we would like to see, as diabetics, within the meter to make it more appealing for us to use. The first thing that virtually everyone mentioned was better accuracy. I know this would be my top priority in selecting a meter (and closely followed by cost / copay) It is really hard to feel that you are doing your best at managing your Diabetes when a device like a Blood Glucose meter, that all of us diabetics rely upon so heavily can be as much as 25% off of your true blood glucose. When I got home and was on twitter last week, the accuracy topic reared its ugly head again. This really got me thinking about my choice in blood glucose meters and was there a better, and more accurate, choice for me. I figured that I would throw a question out to all my fellow Twitabetics (yes, I just made that up):

If money or insurance red tape was not an issue, What Blood Glucose meter would you choose and why?

I was very curious to find out what would drive people (other than cost) to use a particular meter.  The following are the answers I received:

@MyTypeOne easy, Freestyle Lite. Tiny meter, tiny blood sample, strip port light, code free, and cute as can be!

@tmana I love my Freestyles (Flash, Lite) – lowest sample size, quick response, port light, back light.
@tmana Second meter choices: Keynote/Presto & OneTouch UltraSmart. Keynote/Presto small sample, small device, on-meter meal track

@mypumpgear honestly…none of them have had all the features we want!…we use 1 touch ultralink because it transmits to pump…
@mypumpgear but no backlight!!! and oddly…i miss the beeps!

@sammolsonkasey I use also the One touch ultralink because it transmit to the pump…. miss the backlight of the Accucheck compact
@sammolsonkasey I want one that transmit to the pump, that has a backlight and that beeps when it has enough blood

@Colcalli Any Freestyle meter. Smallest device, smallest blood and light at end of strip.

@badshoe same meter we use now. WaveSense jazz.

@amblass I always prefer meters that talk to my pump (except on CGM, doesn’t matter). Lifescan is my choice right now.

@karen_mst I love my Accu-Check compact b/c of the pre-loaded drum of strips & lancet attached to side. Easy to use on the go. But . . .
@karen_mst it’s so BIG. Love OneTouch mini for size. So would make my own meter w/ Accu-check features but size of mini.

@Wyldceltic1 I use the One Touch Ultralink to cal my CGMS, but use Accu-check Compact Plus for the 1-piece unit to carry w/me.

@CALpumper WaveSense Presto: Love it. Small, light. No coding. Cheap strips. And it gives me reason to shout Presto! 4 no reason.

@daytonbruster I have three and they’re all Ultra One Touch meters so I can read all three into my software for data analysis.

@jaclynt Fav was Ascensia Dex. My main req is a drum of strips like Dex or AccuChek Compact Plus (what I use now)!

@RideToRemedy i love my OneTouch meters, they’re all I’ve ever used in 17 yrs of D and I wouldn’t change that for anything.

@Corky1961 I hv the Accu-Chek Compact +. I like the drums (no coding) & the lancet is attached. Also is backlit. Not all that compact.
@Corky1961 Don’t c anything out there that I would want other than what I already have. Got mine at TCOYD Conf. My ins cvrs the drums.

@Landileigh I would use my AgaMatrix Presto! and then the next would be the AgaMatrix Jazz. but have to use OneTouch as Ins. covers

@MarkMansheim FreeStyle Lite: no coding, little blood, two light functions…yeah, it’s good. I’m not yet sold on a cgms…

As I read the responses I received, I think that the most interesting part about them is that not one person mentioned anything about accuracy. I really don’t blame anyone for not mentioning it because virtually all of the meters out there run very similar in regards to accuracy. Most of what was talked about was the bells and whistles of the devices. Small sample size, backlight / strip light, no coding compact among others. I want all the luxuries that I can get as well but more importantly, I want accuracy. The only company out on the market that really boasts about accuracy is Agamatrix, who is the make of the Wavesence Presto and Jazz meters. Now, with the FDA recent news about tightening down requirements in regards to accuracy on new meters, I am hoping that a new wave of devices will be coming that will give better accuracy. What I do fear is that these devices will come with a hefty price tag which many people will not be willing to pay. I am hoping that these companies really step up to the plate and improve on the accuracy of their meters. I am willing to pay a little high price if it means better accuracy, but there is a cap on that out of pocket cost.

I have gone ahead and decided to give the Wavesense people a shot and see how it fairs to my current OneTouch meters. I am waiting to hear back from Wavesense to find out my out of pocket cost.  I guess we will all just have to sit back and keep an eye on emerging technology to see if quality will play a part of if it will continue to be all about the money.

This entry was posted on Friday, August 7th, 2009 at 12:27 pm and is filed under Diabetes, Diabetes Technology. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.