I'm a blind diabetic and recently heard
about the PumpMate. How do I go about getting one?
- That's a good question. Once
the PumpMate goes into production it will be prescribed along with a
pump at the same time. You would receive thorough instruction on
diabetes care, use of the pump and the PumpMate.
Why hasn't there been anything like the
PumpMate until now?
- The technology to create a talking
pump was not readily available when the current style of insulin pumps
were designed, and the physical placement of the pump itself on the
user's body precludes using speech technology. The PumpMate
changes all that however! It not only gives the vision impaired
user access to all the important pump functions, it does so using clear
and pleasant sounding speech to guide the user through the various
functions and settings. The PumpMate is hand held and easy to use.
I know the pump has control buttons on
it which I cannot see to use, but so does the PumpMate. What
makes it different, how will I be able to use it?
- The PumpMate uses audio menus, in
addition to large font on-screen menus if that's what the user
prefers. It can be used by persons with diminished vision, or
those that have little or no sight at all. A sighted user can
turn off the audio.
Sorry! I'm not computer literate,
could you explain what you mean by audio menus? By the way, it
would be great if they had audio menus at my favorite restaurant!
- Of course, it's a common
assumption these days that everyone knows what we're talking about when
we use computer lingo to describe things. An audio menu is much
like a sighted friend or assistant that is reading the instructions for
you. Let's say you're learning to use the buttons on your TV
remote. Your assistant will explain what the different buttons
do, how to locate them, what they feel like. TV remotes allow you
to change the volume or the channel by pressing the up and down
buttons, or the left and right buttons. The PumpMate has a
similar button layout, but much simpler: there are just 7 buttons
ergonomically shaped and located. The PumpMate also has a built
in tutorial that explains things and guides you through the learning
process, kind of like your friend. Each menu holds a list of
functions, some of which will take you to a new sub-menu. Kind of
like the list of items on the menu for the main course at your
restaurant. What you really want though, is to flip a few pages
and get right to the dessert menu.
I get it! What menus or functions
does the PumpMate have?
- The PumpMate mirrors the menus and
functions that are found on a typical pump, although some functions by
necessity work a bit different from the pump, simply because they must
be programmed first on the PumpMate, then transmitted to the
pump. Without going too deep into specifics, the PumpMate gives
you the ability to create or edit up to 3 basal profiles, to select
which one is "active", to set the pump time and date, to issue a bolus,
and to create a profile with a temporary basal time period.
I have a talking blood glucose meter
that I use and I know the pump can store my readings. But not
being sighted, there isn't any way I can enter my readings into the
pump. Is this something the PumpMate will allow me to do?
- Absolutely! You can manually
enter your blood glucose reading into the PumpMate, then if you are
satisfied with the reading you can use the PumpMate to transmit it to
the pump.
I'm thrilled
at the prospect of being able to control my pump, but suppose I'm out
with friends at a restaurant. They are trying to read the dinner
menu, and I'm trying to read the pump menu, preparing to give myself a
bolus before the meal. This might be more than a little annoying
to others.
- We don't want you to get your
menus mixed up, that's for sure. Just plug in the earphone that
comes with the PumpMate and your bolus menus are now private.
It's a standard ear phone jack, so you can also use your own if you
prefer.
How does this thing get it's
power? Will it use up a lot of batteries?
- Batteries are the least of your
worries. The PumpMate has built in rechargeable batteries, which
should be good for 3 weeks at a time, with typical usage.
PumpMate will recharge overnight using it's built in charger. You
can use the supplied charger, or you can plug it into your PC via the
USB cable.
I can't
think of any more questions! Is there anything else I should know?
- We pretty much covered it all, but
there are a few other nice features, such as USB for upgrades and one
very important feature that will be indispensable for newcomers to
insulin pumps and the PumpMate as well. Every time you read or
write the settings on your pump, PumpMate allows you to save them as a
restore point that is dated. If a new pump owner gets confused
about what his pump settings should be, or is having a little trouble
setting up a basal profile and they just want to go back to something
that they know worked for example, he or she just needs to select a
restore point to go back 1 day, 2 days, a week, or whatever is needed.
The PumpMate seems like a great
product. It's about time something like this has come along!
- We couldn't agree more! In
fact, the idea for the PumpMate comes from a blind type 1 diabetic who
has had the disease from the age of 4. James is an engineer and
programmer and has wished for something like the PumpMate for
years. All the wishing in the world didn't accomplish a thing,
but he was determined to make it happen. Eventually, he met the
right individual and convinced him to get involved in the
project. You can find their story on this web site.
Editor's Note: This is obviously
not a real interview, but it could be. The PumpMate is a working
prototype. We hope to partner with an insulin pump manufacturer
to bring this concept to reality. |