Having used the Libre for the best part of a year so far, I’ve decided that it’s time to take the next steps and try and build a DIY CGM. But how am I going to do this I hear people asking?
Well, it looks fairly straightforward. A few simple electronic bits and pieces, some soldering and an Android App, plus some attempts to resuscitate an old Dexcom Transmitter, and hopefully, I’ll have the basis of a CGM. Sensors can be found on their own for around £55 a piece (which is about the same as the Libre sensors) but they should last an extra 7-10 days. With this in mind, I hope to have a working CGM system that I can monitor over the web and have alert me on my smartwatch. All sounds rather too good to be true, doesn’t it!
I’ve purchased the requisite pieces from ebay to build an xDrip – details of how to do it are all available here: http://stephenblackwasalreadytaken.github.io/xDrip/
This will give me my bridge to the Android phone for getting the data into the cloud. The next step here is to build a Bluetooth to Wi-Fi bridge that can store data, log into something like BT Wifi and upload previous unconnected readings to the cloud while also providing a realtime feed. I’ll park that for now.
Then there is the transmitter resuscitation. Thanks to Tim Omer, here, http://www.hypodiabetic.co.uk/home/blog/diabetes-life/hacking-the-dexcom-g4-transmitter-battery-replacement , I’ll be doing a bit of positive destruction.
Then there is Nightscout… for CGM in the Cloud http://nightscout.github.io/ and, of course, an App on the iPhone, to make this an iPhone CGM set up (all in a rather round about way…) https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/nightscout/id949973872?mt=8
So here I am awaiting the delivery of a load of bits, at which point I will settle down for a couple of hours of grinding, soldering, unsoldering, testing and I’m sure there will also be some frustration involved. After which, I hope to have a fully functioning CGM system, but having not spent £1075 on it, but more like £70. We shall see how it goes. I’ll get pictures up with both successes and failures!
Leave a Reply