Why don't you let the hobbyist decide what he or she thinks is safe to hack on.
As a T1D myself, having to spend about 50% of my waking life second-guessing what my endocrine system is up to (with the same system screwing with my cognitive ability to successfully do so), I want to Close The Loop as quickly as possible, barring an actual cure.
Yes, it is dangerous "hacking" these systems. But just as dangerous is every one of the daily decisions I have to keep making myself, over and over again.
I think it's fine if you're willing to accept the risk. My 7 year old has been a type 1 diabetic since he was 19 months old. Despite being a software developer and being tech savvy, I'm unwilling to use a DIY solution like this on him. If I had type 1 diabetes, I'd be more likely to try it.
Having said that, we still benefit from these efforts. I run Nightscout on Heroku so I can monitor his blood glucose levels remotely while he's in school. This is less necessary now that he's using a Dexcom CGM (they provide their own glucose sharing app.) His previous pump/CGM was made by Medtronic - their sharing functionality is/was atrocious and Nightscout's bridge made it serviceable. We also have a few tablets around the house so we can keep an eye on it throughout the day and night.
An single extra unit (or less) of insulin can kill a type 1 diabetic. I don't expect non-diabetics to understand what that means, but it's not more than a few drops of insulin.
gorb314|6 years ago
As a T1D myself, having to spend about 50% of my waking life second-guessing what my endocrine system is up to (with the same system screwing with my cognitive ability to successfully do so), I want to Close The Loop as quickly as possible, barring an actual cure.
Yes, it is dangerous "hacking" these systems. But just as dangerous is every one of the daily decisions I have to keep making myself, over and over again.
GiorgioG|6 years ago
Having said that, we still benefit from these efforts. I run Nightscout on Heroku so I can monitor his blood glucose levels remotely while he's in school. This is less necessary now that he's using a Dexcom CGM (they provide their own glucose sharing app.) His previous pump/CGM was made by Medtronic - their sharing functionality is/was atrocious and Nightscout's bridge made it serviceable. We also have a few tablets around the house so we can keep an eye on it throughout the day and night.
crankylinuxuser|6 years ago
Ill give you a hint: if you mistake the math for self injection, badness is a lot quicker.
The pumps are slow. And its easy to see if a meters messed up cause of extra insulin down a clear tube.
ron0c|6 years ago
GiorgioG|6 years ago
idle_zealot|6 years ago