My Pump Blog

The day has finally come. Ring the bells, dance in the streets and drink til dawn to celebrate the arrival of some new diabetes tech. Medtronic’s new and improved CGM sensor – Enlite – has ticked all the legislative boxes and is being launched today in the UK.

According to the marketing propaganda “The Enlite Sensor combines greater comfort with improved glucose sensor performance in both overall accuracy and hypo detection”. Plus the sensor is thinner, shorter, approved for use for 6 days and comes with a new and improved insertion device, which looks less like a harpoon gun than the old one. And the really big news – it no longer has the 3ft long insertion needle that scared all but the most hardened needle poker.

 

Ye olde CGM sensor with monster insertion needle and harpoon gun (sorry, inserter)

The much smaller Enlite sensor (attached to the Minilink transmitter)

 

The new and less scary Enlite sensor inserter

Rather than struggling to get the correct angle of insertion which could be a bit of an issue with the old sensors, the new ones are inserted vertically, like a Quickset, so that should be one less thing to worry about. Also, the insertion needle, as well as being shorter and thinner has been polished, so it’s smoother too. Of course, when it comes down to it, you’re still shoving a bit of metal into your tender flesh so it’s never going to be a pleasure, but the stats say that 85% of testers found the insertion to be pain free. Even with a huge pinch of salt, it certainly seems to be a great improvement.

This dog knows that money is always a big issue when it comes to CGM. The new sensors are of course more expensive than the old ones (come on, did you seriously expect anything different?) but are cleverly priced to still be cheaper than the equivalent CGM sensors from Dexcom and Abbott. Wow, it’s like there’s a marketing strategy behind this stuff!

When Tim and Alison had a play with the new sensor recently, it certainly looked simpler and more comfortable to insert. And the improved accuracy claims are impressive. The proof of the pudding is of course in the metaphorical eating – do said sensors accurately detect the post pudding spike?  This dog is writing this piece because he knows that Alison is busy on the phone to the Medtronic order desk this morning to get her grubby hands on some of the new sensors and rumour has it that Tim might also be giving them a try soon…so watch this space.