Show and Tell today, Friends!
I received my demo kit of the Solo tubeless insulin pumping system the other day. That’s the would-be competitor to OmniPod which was acquired by Roche Diabetes last month. It’s not yet on the market — in fact, not slated to be available until 2012, but you can order a free sample “pod” to give the thing a try if you’re very curious. I was.
Too bad you can’t get a good look at the controller yet, but in any case, they’re pushing a supposedly superior “pod” design as the big competitive advantage — even going so far as to call the Solo “the first truly discreet insulin dispensing system” (which sounds like a slam to OmniPod to me).
Funny, it didn’t look that much smaller than the OmniPod:
But the adhesive around the patch pump was thinner, for sure. Not sure that’s a good thing in terms of pulling up/off …
Once I got it on, it definitely didn’t look smaller. That was the first thing my husband said (besides, What? You need two now??)
Then I tried detaching. Finding just the right place to push and wiggle it off wasn’t that easy, but wow! I could detach!!
Look Ma, no pump! The “cradle” was quite comfortable…
I started daydreaming of hot-tubbing without worries… We might even get one in our backyard some day (yeah, right after the gajillion-dollar house remodel we’re about to start -grrr).
So the upshot is:
I liked it. A nice design and comfortable to wear.
Smaller or fundamentally better than OmniPod? I wouldn’t say so, no.
The big competitive advantage is, after all, being able to detach. That will be some breakthrough freedom for us OP users who hate to waste expensive pods and insulin.
I have no inside knowledge of this, but I would be shocked if Insulet wasn’t working on a way to make the OmniPod detachable as well. Hello, real-life needs of people with diabetes!
I was all fired up about the solo last year when we first got whiff of it. It’s smaller, sleeker profile than Omnipod really spoke to me and the fact that you can bolus from the reservoir. As you know, Roche having now acquired the Solo Micropump, it doesn’t look like it’s going to make an appearance in the marketplace this year. Meanwhile of course Omnipod may make good on its talk about rivaling the Solo in size. But as far as the detaching aspect of Solo, I’ve heard even if you detach for 30 minutes your blood sugar starts rising significantly. Anyone else hear that? riva
Due to the 18 month push back in release date, I am assuming Roche is doing some sort of “tweeking” to the design. Medtronic is having their annual analyst meeting on June 7th, so expect to hear some more details about their forthcoming patch pump. This was the meeting last year when they announced that they were working on a patch pump. Insulet (Omnipod) should submit its Omnipod/Seven+ integrated CGM product very soon.
I received my demo a while back and never tried it, I guess I should dig that sucker out!!
I can’t tell but it looks about the same length and width as the OmniPod, but is it slightly flatter?
About 2/3 rds the thickness and just seems less clunky
Omnipod is talking about a 1/3 smaller pump coming out soon. Does anybody know more about that? The solo looks exactly the size of the pod.
The big win, from my perspective, is not the size of the Solo pod, but a few of the improvements they’ve made over the Omnipod. Notable for me is the ability to bolus without the remote control. Anyone who’s ever lost a TV remote or left their cell phone at home before going out might appreciate that feature, because your dinner out at a restaurant won’t necessarily be ruined by the inability to bolus. As for the detach-ability of the Solo, to me, that’s nice, but not a make-or-break feature.
My daughter, age 7, is currently using the OmniPod. The news is that the Pod is coming out 45% smaller than the current model, available by the end of this year, early 2011. To me, the Solo doesn’t look any smaller than the current OmniPod. As for the detachability, it’s much like disconnecting a tubed pump, which doesn’t make or break choosing the Solo for my daughter.
What about the nanopump from Debiotech: http://www.debiotech.com. Seems like this is old news.
I started pumping in 1979 my first pump was the Auto Syringe or the big black brick as it was nicked named. Ok so I am an antique and I have seen my share of pumps come and go along with meters and such.
I started with Minimed in 1980 and have been with the until last Monday when I decided to go with OmniPod. It amazes me that we have started from a pump the size of a brick to now a small cell phone size to a detachable pod. I absolutely love my OmniPod and have no regrets about switching over. Last week when I talked to Omnipod they did state they are working on making the pod smaller but it will still hold the same amount 200 units of insulin. No matter what pump you choose tube or tubeless happy pumping!
Well I got a sample pod of this..Im a new pumper who has the AccuCheck Spirit..yeah I would had prefer probably minimed but unfortunately the rep and the main number…where the worst..they call to tease me only and never came out..call them back…and nothing happened..with Accuchek…they were always on it..
Anyways..Im going to try this sample like above..its very slim..maybe since Rocheowns both the accuchek and this..I can transition over to this..if I like..
Happy pumpin..YOU PUMP ME UP..heheheh
I received my Solo sample last fall, and it looked so much smaller than my sample Omnipod. . . until I put them side-by-side.
The thinner profile made ALL the difference in the world though — there is no place on my body I can put an Omnipod without looking like I’m sporting an egg-like growth under my clothes (believe me, I tried everywhere!), but the Solo was really, truly discreet. I burst out in tears as soon as I looked in the mirror.
The only trouble is that my Minimed pump is out of warranty in October, and now that the release date for the Solo has been pushed back so far, I don’t know what I’m going to do. If I get a new Minimed, my insurance won’t cover a patch pump until the new warranty runs out in four years. . . but I can’t switch to Omnipod yet because I can’t wear the current iteration. Grrrr. . .