Please remember all changes in insulin regimens must be discussed with your diabetes team first!!!

This is not a cure but another method of insulin delivery. A small pager-like device that mechanically pumps set amounts of fast-acting insulin into the patient's body. This is not yet a closed loop system. It is a system that requires the setting of "basal rates" and the calculation of various insulin to food ratios to be used in the run of a day.

Unlike Multiple Daily Injection therapy (MDI), pump therapy does not use a long-lasting insulin but small amounts of fast-acting insulin injected throughout the day. For some this leads to feelings of unease as the threat of DKA (Diabetic Ketoacidosis) looms greater. For others it simply leads to feelings of freedom as they no longer are forced to follow the clock. The peaks of long-lasting NPH insulins may have been a problem, or the single basal rate offered by insulin glargine may not match their body's needs.

An insulin pump lets you set a variety of "basal rates" to meet the naturally occuring needs of your body. It further allows you to match insulin to carbohydrate intake rather than having to "feed" your insulin. You now chose to eat, snack or graze--not your disease.

Pumping insulin is not for everyone. It is another method of insulin delivery. Some do not like the idea of being attached to a mechanical devise around the clock. I have always felt that those who wish to pump should be able to.

An insulin pump is a medical devise that should be covered by all insurance companies if not the Canadian Public Healthcare System itself. Pumps currently cost between $6000-$7200 Canadian and require monthly pump supplies whose costs can run upwards of $1200 per year. This is a large financial burden for those without private insurance or for those whose private insurance refuse to cover such life sustaining equipment. Sadly this cost is nothing compared to a week in the hospital due to DKA, or the cost of kidney dialysis for those who were unable to maintain the tight control required of them through MDI. It is our job as advocates of those with Type 1 diabetes to get people to understand that the short term costs associated with pumping are nothing compared to the long term costs of complications stemming from this disease. People living with Type 1 diabetes should have the option to obtain the best method of control they can be it through MDI or though an insulin pump but the choice should be there.

But what does it look like?

All together!

How do you change a site?  Site changes should be taught by a certified pump trainer!! Below is a demonstration of how "we" change a 90 degree infusion set. This should be used as a guide ONLY.  It has been brought to our attention that our method and the method described by the Animas website (who distribute this set) are different. They do not require that you pinch the skin for one but it is an old MDI habbit that I cannot break especially on a small child with minimal fat. Please remember to go through your trainer and read your manuals before doing a site change. This is only a guide for those who may forget or simply are curious as to what it may look like to do.

For those who would prefer to insert the site according to the InsetII instructions, here is where we differ. We do not use the automatic inserter built into the site (as you can tell from the instructions below).  The Animas instructions suggest that after you have removed the adhesive backing paper you "Place fingers on lined indentations. Press lined indentations on each side. Pull spring up until you hear a "click" (this is what we do NOT do). Carefully remove the needle guard by gently twisting and then pulling it. Place tubing in the slot so that it is not caught under the devise when inserting. Position InsetII. Simultaneously press the round indentations on either side of the insertion devise to insert it. Push gently on the center of the inserter to secure the adhesive on the skin. Remove the inserter needle by grasping the center and pulling it gently back. Massage the tape thoroughly into the skin and fill cannula."  

Below are insulin pumps that are currently available on the Canadian market.

Insulin Pumps Available

There are currently four main pump manufacturers in Canada--MiniMedtronic, Disetronic, Animas, and Smith Medical (formerly known as Deltec)

Updated, easier to read chart!!

Pump
Manufacturer	Accu-Chek Spirit by Roche	Animas2020 by Johnson &Johnson	Deltec Cozmo 1800	Smart Paradigm (Real Time System)  by Medtronic	OmniPod *Only available in US
Resevoir Size	315 unit Cartridge system (see our Products page for details)	200u	300u	176 u (in 522) or 300u (in 722 model)	200u
Battery Type	1 standard or rechargeable AA battery	Uses one AA lithium battery. Can use a regular battery in a pinch	Uses one AAA lithium battery	One AAA	PDM: 2 Alkaline AAA Batteries
Battery Life	4 week average for standard AA or 1 week with rechargeable AA	5 to 7 weeks	Dependent on alarm use. Anywhere from 5 days to 3 weeks	n/a	4 weeks
Pump size	3.2"x2.2"x.08"	3" x 2" x .86"	The size of a cell phone.	522 model measures 5 x 7.6 x 2 cm 722 model measures 5 x 9 x 2 cm	OmniPod: 1.6 in. x 2.4 in. x 0.7 in. PDM: 2.6 in. x 4.3 in. x 1.0 in.
Pump weight	2.8 oz pump (4oz with filled insulin cartridge, battery and infusion set)		Weighs 3.3 ounces	522 model  weighs only 100 grams with a full reservoir 722 model  weighs 108 grams with a full reservoir.	OmniPod: Approximately 1.2 oz. (with full reservoir) PDM: 4.0 oz. (with batteries)
Waterproof	IPX8 (8' in depth for 60 minutes)	Waterproof at 12 feet for up to 24 hours	waterproof to 8 feet for 30 minutes of 12 feet for 3 minutes	Water resistant. It should not be worn to swim.	8 feet for 30 minutes
Luer  Lock             conections	yes	yes	yes	no	integrated angled infusion set with automated cannula insertion and no tubing
Lowest Basal and Bolus rates	0.1 bolus rate with bolus increments of .1,0.2,0.5,1.0, 2.0 Basal delivery in 0.1 increments up to 25.0 U/hr	.025 basal rate and .05 food bolus	.05u	0.05 U/hr	0.05 U/hr increments, up to 30 U/hr Bolus 0.05, 0.1, 0.5, 1.0 unit increments
Bolus Wizard	yes in Palm device.	ezCarb In-Pump Food Database. Create an individualized food database of up to 500 food items right in your pump.	customized basal and bolus menu. Bolus in grams of carbohydrates or units of insulin. Enhanced Meal Maker® carbohydrate calculating feature – A food database that lists carbohydrate amounts that make it easier for customers to track their carbohydrate intake	Bolus Wizard® Calculator simplifies insulin dosing and reduces math errors	Integrated food database with over 1000 common food items Suggested bolus calculator
Temporary Basal Patterns	10% increments from 0% to 250% in 15 minutes windows	-90% to +200%	customized	+/- 0.05 U/hr +/- 1%	Percentage or U/hr adjustments
Easy to use menu	Reversible graphic display Side mounted tactile buttons for Quick bolus	High contrast color screen: white-on-dark type and a yellow bar that highlights each function as you navigate the screen. It has the largest screen currently available.	Easy read screen	yes	yes
Backlight	yes	Self illuminating so no backlight is needed	yes	yes	yes
Works with BG monitor	yes, Accu-Chek Aviva and Accu-Chek Compact Plus		Cozmonitor system is available and uses FreeStyle test strips.	Bayer's Contour Link Meter has been approved in Canada.  The Contour Link meter will be replacing the BD Blood Glucose meter that comes with Medtronic pumps.	Built in Freestyle BG meter
Customized Alerts	Audible or vibrating bolus confirmation	Compose your own tune or set to vibrate for most pump alert sounds. As customized low cartridge alert	Test bg levels, missed meal bolus, and site change alerts Weekly Schedule – Lets customers program several settings to occur automatically by the time and day of the week so they don’t have to change settings every day Hypo Manager™ feature – A feature that recommends the number of carbohydrates a customer should eat to correct a low blood sugar test result, which gets the customer back to a healthier condition.	yes	Programmable reminders and alerts
Customized Basal Patterns	Five rate profiles	Four	yes	Four	7 programs with up to 24 segments each. Programmable in 30 minute increments
PC Compatible Software	Yes Infrared port for wireless data transfer Accu-Chek Smart Pix device(USB plug and play)		infrared port for uploading and downloading to PC	Web Based - CareLink Personal, now available for Canadian customers in English and French CareLnk Pro (Desktop software that HCPs can use to remotely access their patients' information previously uploaded into CareLink Personal)
CGMS compatible	n/a	n/a	FDA approval of Freestyle Navigator. The Cozmo was originally designed to work with this product.	Yes. Uses the first of its kind, Real-Time MiniLink sensor. This system is purchased separately.
IOB calculator	yes 8 time blocks for carb ratios and insulin sensitvities	choose your own times for your insulin-to-carb ratios, Insulin Sensitivity Factors (ISF) and blood glucose targets in 30-minute increments, up to 12 personal settings.	Yes Disconnect feature – A feature that calculates the insulin that would be missed when customers remove the Deltec Cozmo® pump for up to two hours and lets them take part of that missed insulin before and after they disconnect	yes	yes
Personalized Insulin duration	yes	n/a	yes	no	yes
Remote Bolus	no	n/a	no	optional	yes
Color options	blue	silver, blue, black with wide range of colorful ezFlip covers	Tropical green, volcanic black, and Pacific blue		white
Warranty	4 years	4 years	5 years	4 years	4 Year PDM Warranty
Other	IR interface 2 tactile buttons 180 day back up pump Electronic Diary Reversible display Available in 12 languages	resistant to static electricity and has memory protection in case battery is down for an extended period Spare pump available for travel.	Spare pump available for travel	RF Technology that allows the smart pump to upload data into CareLink.  This technology also allows the Contour Link meter to send blood glucose readings to the pump

Not much difference between the 2020 and the 1250 except for the color screen (easier to read), and most importantly the variable I:C, ISF, and Target time ranges. It's also supposed to store the BG and number of carbs you enter for boluses and provide the ability to download them from the pump. The one drawback is that Animas hasn't released the upgraded Ez-Manager software for the 2020 that you use to download and program the pump.  Until they release the new Ez-Manager, you won't be able to program a custom tune, use the Food Database, or download pump readings.(I am able to download bolus values for now using the old version of Ez-Manager, but no basal rates and no programming pump settings on the computer - Has to be done manually.) There are only only 2 reminders you can set for specific times of day and then a reminder to check BG x hours after a bolus.  I don't think it has as many reminders as the Cozmo does.

Excellent customer service

I really liked the built in food database that helps you when bolusing for meals. The Animas lets you bolus in 0.05 unit increments and set basal rates in 0.025 unit increments. So it's great for anyone who's really sensitive to insulin. It's fully waterproof, the O-rings on the battery cover and the insulin reservoir really emphasize this. It also delivers the insulin boluses very quickly compared to my old Minimed. And despite the bright screen it doesn't seem to drain the single AA battery too quickly.
On the down side. I didn't like the speed at which the up and down arrows worked. The numbers scroll extremely quickly and it's hard to stop at exactly the right spot. I also missed seeing the carb information on the summary screen that's shown just before you get a chance to take a bolus. The history on the pump is very insulin centric, with no information about carbohydrate consumption or blood glucose values. I also wish the daily summary showed the ratio of meal boluses to correction boluses. Finally the accompanying software has a very dated feel, the reports are pretty basic and there is no data export capability.
Even though I was just trying out the pump, Animas was very supportive any time I had a question from Bernard's Diabetes Blog

I could easily cancel the combo bolus, add the remainder to the new amount I am giving and give another combo bolus. Animas gives IOB with the total bolus on 1 screen (no scrolling) so you can make the decision to subtract the IOB or not based on the BG. Faster insulin delivery can cause some discomfort. Animas shows you the entire basal list with times and amounts on 1 screen so you can view the changes you make on 1 time period along with the rest of the time periods and amounts. I could do a negative temp basal (usually -10% for 30 minutes) AND it would show me how long we have left on the home screen. I do NOT change the insulin cartridge with a site change (that's wasteful). I change it when the pump tells me there are 20 units left in the cartridge.  With Animas, there is simply a needle to get the insulin into the cartridge which is wonderful to be able to tip a nearly empty bottle to get all the insulin out. Animas has a much better "windows" based set up and much easier to read and bigger screens than Minimed. from Rachel

 Cozmo:
There are a couple of features that, since we have them, could never do without. The Cozmonitor is one. Being able to use Cleo sites is another (that's the one ________ put in herself to show ____). I love being able to name custom boluses and temp rates and with the upgrade, I can even program in default carb counts. I prefer the way the other pumps calculate insulin on board.

Easy to use menu. Great custom alerts. Excellent customer service. If the pump dies a new one is usually at your door in 24 hours.  

Hypo bolus calculator really works!

The Cozmo is well built, and feels solid. It is certified waterproof, with an IPX8 rating (IPX8 – waterproof to a depth of 8 feet for 30 minutes). The display is clear and readable. A backlight option makes it easy to read the display in low light conditions. The pump uses a standard Luer lock, so there is a wide choice of infusion sets. The pump has a clip-on BG meter, called the CoZmonitor, and uses Freestyle testing strips. It is easy to test BG using the CoZmonitor. Ensure that the pump’s display is in one of the home screens, insert a Freestyle strip, wait for the prompt that tells you to apply the sample, hear the beep confirming that the sample has registered, and get your reading in 5 seconds. Of course, if you have set low and high BG thresholds, you can get alerts and also bolus from there for adjusting the highs. Insulin on board i.e.insulin stacking is computed for you. The maximum bolus permissible is 75 units, which is a god send for folks with high insulin resistance. A site change reminder alert can be setup when the pump is loaded and primed. This is a unique feature of the Cozmo. Has a MealMaker food database to make bolus calculations easy. The food database can be customized using the provided software (CoZmanager). Has a missed basal calculator, which is useful when the pump is disconnected. Pre and post-disconnect bolus rates are calculated to compensate. The pump transmits and receives data from the CoZmanager software using an IR transceiver. A serial port or USB IR dongle is supplied with the pump for this purpose. The IR transceiver on the pump is also used to communicate with the CoZmonitor clip-on BG meter. So, if you need to extract data from the pump or customize the pump settings, you have to remove the CoZmonitor to allow the IR port to establish communication with the supplied dongle. If you do not wish to use the CoZmonitor attachment, you will have to remember to use a different cap for the battery compartment. The CoZmonitor clip-on is secured to the pump using the battery cap. If the CoZmonitor is removed, the supplied shorter battery cap must be used, pending which the waterproofing of the pump is compromised. The pump has an insulin reservoir size of 300 units. Loading and priming was relatively painless. I found the CoZmanager software to be very impressive when it came to configuring the pump and saving multiple pump profiles. I was not that impressed with the charting and reporting capabilities of the software when it came to analyzing pump and BG readings. The company claims that the BG data can be accessed and reported on using the CoPilot software from Freestyle. I did not validate that claim. Jeff, the sales executive from Smiths Medical for my region, was very helpful and knowledgeable. It was a pleasant surprise to work with a sales executive who had all the information at his fingertips, and went above and beyond his call of duty to ensure that my trial was smooth. I used the Cleo 90 infusion set, which was a dream. It comes with an almost-painless applicator, and the infusion set locking mechanism and alignment option was excellent. I had no problems for two full days, with four showers and some sweat thrown in.  Now, a few gotchas…The case. Why is it that companies design an awesome electro-mechanical product that pumps insulin, include a crappy case with their product? The pumps cost as much as a good used car ($6000 to $7000), but come with a case that looks like a cheap cellphone case. My biggest gripe with the Deltec Cozmo was the case, or more specifically, the belt clip. See how the top of that clip protrudes upward? That gave me a lot of discomfort, especially when I sat down or rolled over. Jeff showed me a different case that had a smaller clip, but it did not look and feel too reliable. I’ve heard every pump manufacturer’s representative say that you can buy a cellphone case and use it instead. But then, you miss out on the ability to view the display , push the buttons, do a one touch bolus or take a BG reading using the attached CoZmonitor. Removing the pump from the case to perform these functions every time defeats the purpose of a good case. One home screen to rule them all: This is a minor nitpick. If you wish to take a BG reading using the CoZmonitor, or wanted to read data from the pump using the IR dongle, you have to ensure that the pump’s display is active with a home screen. If the pump’s display is in screen-saver mode, it will happily ignore you when you insert a strip for testing, or are waiting for IR communication to be established. I guess this is a feature that takes getting used to. The Midnight mode that cannot be deleted: When you setup a basal profile, you can specify from, to and basal rates. However, there is a Midnight entry as default, which could not be removed. So if I wanted to setup a basal rate of 2 units an hour from 11 pm to 4 am, I would assume that the pump knew that I wanted a 2 unit basal rate at midnight. However, the Midnight setting is still 0, and the pump warns you that there will be no basal delivery at midnight. You can get around it by programming a basal rate from, say 11 pm to 12 am, then 12 am to 4 am. I would have expected the pump firmware to be more intelligent and accommodate this use case. Battery life - The pump uses a standard AAA battery. Battery life, especially when you have the backlight turned on, is between 5 to 7 days. This is an area for improvement. Backlight blues - The pump has a backlight configuration setting that I did not like. You either have backlight turned on all the time (disabled when the display screen-saver is active), or for a limited duration, configured in seconds. Deltec should look at adding an ambient light sensor to the pump so that the backlight comes on and stays on only when ambient light levels drop. This will conserve battery life. from Shaman Blog

Medtronic:

"We used Cozmo for 2 years then switched to the MM Real Time in able to have the CGMS.  It took us many months to get used to the small differences between Cozmo and MM but once we got used to it it was just as good as the Cozmo.  We sort of had to retrain ourselves to REMEMBER site change days b/c there is no alarm to tell you on the MM.  There were a few other little things too that drove me nuts but I can now officially say I love my MM pump just as much as my Cozmo pump. "

"I'll put in another plug for the Paradigm Real Time.  I love the fact that I can leave the house and the husband (no hands so he can't monitor his blood glucose levels) and he can monitor his own blood gluocse level by just looking at the face of the pump. I also like the fact that he can go out and I don't really worry that much that he'll have a low on the road.  I sleep a lot better at night knowing that the sensor will wake him up if he goes low or high.  We have the low set at 5.0 and the high set at 10.0.  Before, I'd get up and monitor at 3 in the morning and I'd administer juice, if necessary or extra insulin, if necessary and all that got me wide awake and I couldn't back to sleep again for hours.  I think I was sleep deprived for 5 years.  I used to monitor 10 or 11 times / day, now, usually, it's about 6 or 7.  I have a better A1C to boot so we are losing nothing by reading less often.  The A1C is not much better .072 as opposed to .074, but I can even go out of town now for the day.  We also don't measure manually if we are across the border or in Toronto.  Measuring bgs on the leg is a very difficult task in mid-winter in a parking lot, I assure you.  So I reaaaaally reaaaaaaaly love my CGMS system.  Lately, it has been very, very much in control.  The readings do not vary much from the monitor's readings.  We've been getting close to 7 days on each sensor, too, lately.  I'm wondering if the fact we had higher readings in the summer meant that the pump only lasted 4 or 5 days or if Medtronic smarened up when the Dex 7 came out. "

"I have a medtronic insulin pump and it has change my life. Medtronic inuslin pumps are great"

"We have the Medtronic Minimed (which is the realtime one). The constant glucose monitors aren't covered by insurances yet, but they are working on it. We love the minimed. It is so easy to use! _____ is able to do most of it herself, and she has only been on it since June 19th. It is very user-friendly. Her a1c's dropped by 10% in the first two weeks on it. I would highly recommend it."

"We have only used Medtronic pumps and products. What a difference my husband's insulin pump and sensor has made to both our lives.  My husband has much better control even with a chronic bone infection and heavy (750 mg twice a  day) cipro and ciprodex use and has not had a bad low in over a year.  This morning I counted up the number of readings I'd done before I got one over 10.0.  I had 21 readings, nearly 2 days' worth of readings where none were under 3.4 and none were over 10.0.  And my husband has been diabetic since 1978.  Sweet!"

"We have the MM712, it is 3 years old and already behind the curve where smart pumps are today. With that being said I may love the newer smart pumps. I do not love this pump. I don’t like knowing that I only have 4 or 5 sets to chose from, since the connector is only with Paradigm pumps. There is the quickset, the silhouette, the sure-t, the sof-set (not recommended for smaller children) and the polyfin (not recommended for small children). We have had many problems with customer support…anytime anything has gone wrong it has been classified “user error” before you even explain what happened."

I cannot cancel the dual wave/square wave boluses so I can give a new dual wave.   Also, when you have a dual wave or square wave bolus going and you hit "act", it automatically goes to "suspend" instead of back to bolus.  That will take some getting used to. One advantage Minimed has is the "easy bolus" key. You can bypass all the menus and go straight to the bolus wizard. Minimed is better with straight (normal) boluses because it goes in slower than Animas. Minimed shows the total bolus and you have to scroll down to see the Active insulin making it more difficult to remember the amount and making the decision to subtract the active insulin tricky for my math challenged mind. *you can cancel the dual wave..you just don't like the steps that it takes you through to get to it...but it can be done.  You can see all the basal on a screen, just look at basal review...when changing, yes, you have one basal on a screen at a time. Minimed does not have a protective cover for the cartridge cap. There is an activity guard that "is perfect for participating in rough-and-tumble sports." It locks over the battery cover and resevoir compartment for extra protection. Minimed does not give you this info so you can determine if you have the basal vs. bolus ratio semi correct (basal 40% and bolus 60%). When you download your pump to Carelink, it gives you all that information and more. And you can forward it to your MD or CDE and they also can view it immediately, helping to adjust dosages very quickly. The download itself takes very little effort or time. In fact, you do not even need to disconnect the pump to do it. 

OnmiPod

'I tried a demo of the Omnipod, but decided against it and went with the Minimed. I think that the Omnipod is great, it just wasn't for me. I wore it for three days and had a lot of trouble sleeping with it on. That was probably the biggest reason I chose not to go with it."

 Please contact manufacturers for pump prices. Most pumps start at approximately $6500CAD+ but can vary. Also check with your provincial health care provider as more provinces are now covering pumps and/or supplies.

Infusion Sets

Cleo from Smith Medical

Insets  The inset is a 90 degree set with a teflon cannula.It has an all in one infusion set and inserter. It disconnects at the point of insertion.  

  Two easy and relatively painless steps.

Small, flat infusion set design.  One-handed insertion and hidden introducer needle. Disconnect and connect the tubing at the site. Convenient needle protection after use. Safe to carry without compromising sterility.  90 degree insertion. 23 and 43 inch tubing. 27 gauge introducer needle with 6 and 9mm cannulas

Inset 30s

Pre-fixed 30 degree insertion angle. One handed insertion. Small and flat infusion set design. Ergonomic design with integrated insertion devise and a reversible connector that makes connecting and disconnecting a snap. Transparent window to view the site. Well-protected introducer needle. Disconnect and connect the tubing at the site. Convenient needle protection after use. Quiet release of the insertion devise. Available in blue, pink and grey with 23 and 43 inch tubing lengths. 13mm cannula. 

Comments:

_____ has just began using these. Mom likes them, but she doesn't. She says that they hurt a lot more (even with the numbing cream) than the insets or the comfort detach. Mom doesn't like the insets. Each site change Mom ends up using two of them b/c the first one comes off as she withdraws the needle. Anyway, Mom is not sure if _____ doesn't like them b/c they are new, or if ____ really doesn't like them. She is a child that is very resistant to change.
 

We have been using the Inset 30 for about a week.   We were using ContactD (straight in needle site).   We had no complaints with ContactD - they are super easy to insert and in one year of pumping we only had one site failure.  But ______ could be somewhat protective of his site.
Inserting the Inset 30 is super easy.  The device has these little feet on it so you get the angle right.  No pinching up skin, just squeeze the device.  Removing the needle kind of psyches me out because it is so long, but Oliver said it doesn't really hurt.  The device is actually really gentle and doesn't make the big THWACK the Inset makes.
Our first site failed.  Luckily, _____ was willing to try again, and so far it's been working great.  I like the window so that I can actually see the site.   He also likes that we haven't had to tape it down with IV3000 like we used to do with the Contact-D (which would hardly stick to him at all).  So far, it has stuck through several baths and swimming.   It is easier for him to connect/disconnect himself (not sure if that's good or bad....)  He says it is comfortable.  He also is happy that we only have to change it every third day instead of every second.  I really like that also.
So, we are really happy with it.

Wow! If you read the instructions it is the easiest site to use! No touching of tape to begin with. Nice viewing window. Perfect if you like to use 30 degree sets. Barb

      Tenders; Comfort; and Silhouettes all use a 30 degree insertion.  They have 13mm Teflon cannula. 25 gauge intro needle, 27 gauge cannula.  24, 31, 43
inch tubing.  All have luer lock connection.

Disetronic offers the MiniTender with a smaller cannula size.

Quicksets use a 90 degree insertion. Luer Lock or Paradigm connection. 6 or 9 mm needle. 25 gauge intro needle, 27 gauge cannula.  23, 43 inch tubing lengths.

Disetronic Rapid-D uses 28 gauge needle. Inserts at 90 degrees. Multiple base units allow you to change infusion sites without changing tubing. Low profile design makes it very discreet. 

 Contact Detach is a 90 degree infusion set with a 6,8 or 10mm insertion needle which can be left in for 48-72 hours. There is an adhesive backing for both the cannula and the detachable component. These infusion sets are currently marketed through Animas Corporation. 

Animas will be offering the ezSet to a limited market.  A launch date has not yet been discussed for Canada 

THINsets from Applied Diabetes Research Inc. Features one of the thinnest profiles on the market today, making it nearly invisible - even under tight fitting clothing. The self-sealing design doesn't require a cap or additional connector to seal the infusion site when disconnected from the pump. Available in 23- and 43-inch tubing lengths and Cannula lengths of 6 and 9 mm. Standard luer fitting.  90 degree insertion.   

Site covers

  Made for the MiniMed Quick Sets. Groovy Patches adhere to the sterile pad that surrounds the injection site of an insulin pump.

Insertion Sites

Just like injection therapy, insulin infusion sites must be rotated.  Site maps such as the one below may help to keep track of insertion sites and reduce the chance of hypertrophy.

You are not limited to using only one area of your body.  Any area suitable for injections may also be used for infusion sets.  Here are just some of the areas that can be used...

The abdomen

The thigh

The arm

How to carry your pump...

Pump clips    (not so traditional method of wearing your pump!)

Pump Pouches

Pump Log books

There are many different methods and charts for logging your blood glucose levels, basal amounts, bolus amounts, and activity levels. We have introduced a new page with just a few of those charts being used by others who are pumping insulin.  If you have a chart that you would like to share with us please send it along. 

Tips on Dealing with Insurance Companies

Many pump companies have specialists who will assist you in getting your private insurance company to cover your insulin pump and/or supplies. The process can still be very frustrating and difficult.
Tips...

• Log the time, date and contact person you speak with each and every time you call your insurance company.
• Have your insurance company put all details concerning your coverage in writing so you can refer to it later if need be. 
• If you are not satisfied with the service you receive, look to contact the company's ombudsman and let he/she know of your difficulties.

Still have more questions? View our Ask the Expert page and ask your own question.

This site does not supply clinical treatment information or medical advice.  Any advice or information you may receive through this website or our mailing lists is not guaranteed and should always be discussed with your health care provider .  All links are provided for your convenience and further do not signify any endorsement on our behalf.