The Meter Monitor

Patients who would prefer a larger display and larger buttons on their blood glucose meter may want to give the FreeStyle Freedom Lite a try. This meter from Abbott was released in the US in mid-April and shown at ADA. It has similar features to the other meters in the FreeStyle family: no coding, alternate site testing, very small blood sample required, five second testing, and uses FreeStyle test strips.

The OneTouch UltraLink is a recently launched meter from LifeScan that transmits wirelessly to the Medtronic Paradigm insulin pump and CGM and Guardian CGM. One idea driving this development was the need to minimize errors in entering blood glucose data, which in turn minimizes insulin bolus dosing errors. The meter was approved for use in the US in April, and the first units were shipped at no cost to “eligible customers” over the last couple of months. As a bonus Medtronic customers were offered another free LifeScan meter (UltraMini, Ultra 2, or UltraSmart). We look forward to improvements suggested by patients, such as further miniaturization, a backlight, and larger screen readings on the next generation UltraLink Outside the US. The previously released Bayer Contour Link is the meter available that also communicates wirelessly with the Medtronic Paradigm and Guardian.

Speaking of Bayer, the new Bayer Contour meter, anticipated later this summer, will allow patients to choose ‘basic’ or ‘advanced’ levels, as they prefer. User-settable features are great in our view as they enable more “individualization of therapy,” a key ADA meeting theme. The advanced setting now enables users to view 30-day averages in addition to 7- and 14-day averages. Users can also set adjustable timers to alert them when it's time to test. Unlike the basic setting, the advanced setting includes pre- and post-meal markers as well as programmable pre- and post-meal reminders. Following a stylish trend started last year with meters and pumps, the new Contour will come in dark grey, purple, and green, in addition to the traditional blue color. It’s great that the company is thinking in the shoes of patients to create a medical device that need not look like one.