10 Diabetes Technologies to Watch in 2019

t:slim X2 Insulin Pump

Creator: Tandem Diabetes Care

Launch date: August 2018

The latest pump from Tandem Diabetes Care aims to help people prevent hypoglycemia (low blood glucose) by predicting ahead of time when someone’s blood glucose level will drop below 80 mg/dl.

The pump’s new predictive response feature, which it calls Basal-IQ Technology, can suspend insulin delivery in response to predicted low blood glucose levels 30 minutes before they actually drop dangerously low. It does this by syncing with the Dexcom G6 Continuous Glucose Monitoring (CGM) System and looking at patterns in glucose levels to predict where they’re headed. Once glucose levels begin to rise again, insulin delivery resumes.

This feature is also available to existing pump users whose pumps predate the latest update. “Our ability to provide remote software updates, allowing in-warranty t:slim X2 Pump users the ability to add Basal-IQ Technology to their current pumps using a personal computer, is unparalleled in the industry and further differentiates the t:slim X2 Insulin Pump from other devices on the market,” says Kim Blickenstaff, president and CEO of Tandem Diabetes Care.

The company offers study data showing that t:slim X2 users spent 31 percent less time with blood glucose below below 70 mg/dl, compared with participants who used a CGM-enabled pump without the predictive system.

While this system can help people prevent hypoglycemia, the company notes that it isn’t a substitute for active diabetes management. One reason for this is that it depends on a CGM system and your pump’s infusion sets working properly, so you still need to check your devices and blood glucose levels regularly to make sure that nothing strange is going on.