For those who cannot get access to pump funding, or who are just put off by the whole idea, Simon Carter has created an online service that mimics the sophistication of pump technology but without the need to actually wear one.
Simon Carter
Carter has had Type 1 diabetes for 25 years and his daughter Lucy was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes at the age of two, nearly eight years ago. For 12 months, Carter was on an insulin pump, as was his daughter, but they both decided they wanted to be ‘pump free’. He explains, “We simply didn’t like being attached to a pump, as we were always reminded of the condition.” However Simon, who runs a data management company, DataMystic, came away from his pump wearing experience having taken some ideas from it. Along with Lisa Worsfold, who is the mother of a type 1 diabetic, Simon launched ManageBGL.com, a diabetes self-management software tool.
Diabetes data from meters, pumps and CGM was easy for his company to sort out, and as his company also does data visualisation, easy to use screens were created. Although his doctors were sceptical about the software he built, saying that it couldn’t predict lows or highs, as it uses insulin-pump like technology it can make predictions. Using carbohydrates eaten, insulin doses given, insulin to carb ratios and correction factors based on the individual needs, the software makes calculations just like any bolus wizard.
Multiple options
Carter’s ManageBGL site can accommodate the fact that most people with diabetes on multiple daily injections have at least two insulins in the body at the same time. He says, “You can also plug in fats and proteins as they can affect blood glucose control. Up to 30-to-50% of proteins can be converted to carbohydrates within two hours – it’s another level of the glyceamic index relating to foods. It means that to some extent when you eat your food your carbs haven’t arrived in your blood stream yet. Another complicating factor can be the background sugar that is constantly released by the liver. If you have alcohol, that sugar release is reduced, which means that any insulin you do give yourself goes straight in and starts working. Anyone who 
has used CGM can clearly see the impact of foods on blood glucose levels and ManageBGL’s software can also do this.”
Virtual reality
Working as a ‘virtual insulin pump’, ManageBGL.com predicts blood glucose levels (BGLs) 2-3 hours in the future but using no more blood tests than normal, therefore Carter can claim that it delivers the benefits of an insulin pump without the pump, integrating data from multiple diabetes devices in real time online.
ManageBGL.com also provides intelligent coaching, with suggestions and warnings based on BGL readings, linked to online references and can import data from any meter, pump or management system. It is designed to run on Windows and Mac PCs and any Smart Phone. It can also export data back to any management system, so it can be shared with healthcare professionals (or schools, if you have a child with diabetes).
Currently Carter is developing a Smartphone app but in the meantime you need to go the ManageBGL website to plug in your results and to see what predictions the software can offer.
READER OFFER
You can explore the software with a 30-day free trial and then it is $10 a month (about £6-7). Member Discount code for Desang readers: 76d357
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