Hello. I'm the father of a 6 year old type 1 diabetic. We have recently been able to aquire a continuous glucose monitor that reads his blood sugar levels constantly throughout the day.

The meter is a part of a study and therefore is only moderatly supported and still in developement, but we get to use it for the next year.

The meter works with a bluetooth transmitter that is connected to his body 24 hours a day. The transmitter is linked to a remote display that captures the data and give us alarms based on his status. My problem is, the range on the monitor is only about 10 feet. That means it has to be in his room all the time and there is no way for us to see it without having to get up and walk across the house in the middle of the night.

Basically, what I'd like to do is figure out a way to intercept and amplify the signal from the transmitter and broadcast it throughout the house so I can have him go to sleep in his room and take the monitor to my room. (about 25 feet and 2 walls away.

Any ideas on how we might accopmlish this? I sure would appreciate any help or ideas.

BTW, if you're intrested in our story or about type 1 diabetes, our website is www.type1family.com

Thanks!

Jon
Type1Dad

 

Are those audible alarms? If so, a baby monitor should be able to broadcast the alarm over the space of the entire house. You can get multiple receivers.

 

You have to pair bluetooth devices. I've designed medical equipment and they rarely want others to connect to their devices.

Since the meter is a prototype you many want to mention a longer range would be useful.

 

baby monitor is a good idea for the sound, but I want to be able to read the display. We will definately be mentioning range to the trial coordinator, but we are using this model for the next year so I'm trying to come up with a solution.

Good ideas though.

 

A wireless webcam might be a possibility. D-Link make some cheap ones.

 

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The range does suck, you almost need a dedicated laptop in the room to receive the Bluetooth and somehow transmit the interpreted results into a plain WiFi network connection. Any inexpensive laptop should be able to do this.

Webcam idea is good too, especially if it has audio capabilities.

I'd want some sort of remote alert then the capability to look at the readings. I don't know how bad his TypeI is but with the newer control drugs it's usually regulated pretty well where a low sugar event doesn't happen that often so long as you're keeping up his diet and a bit of activity level.

I went through something similar back when I was living with a girlfriend who was pregnant, back then we had to keep her sugar right around 60 and were using a combination of the old NPH & Regular insulin. Too much activity and not eating enough during the day and before going to bed twice ended up in a low sugar coma. I'd shoot her up with glucose then run two blocks to the nearest pay phone (couldn't afford one at home at the time) and hit 911 so they could get her into the hospital and make sure she was stable again. Granted she was an adult so she eventually learned how to better manage it on her own.

You're lucky to have what monitoring you've got nowadays but it's agreed that it could be improved on.