Review: MedAngel Insulin Temperature Sensor
Earlier this year, I was contacted by Amin from a company called MedAngel. Having lived with type 1 diabetes for ten years, he began to tell me about an incident where his refrigerator completely froze his supply of insulin. From there, he created a solution to his problem in the form of the MedAngel temperature sensor.
(Disclosure: I received a MedAngel One to try. There was no expectation that I would blog about the product, and all opinions expressed here are my own).
The MedAngel consists of a small oval shaped temperature sensor, which is stored in the same place as my insulin. The sensor then connects to an app on my smartphone, and transmits the temperature of my insulin via a Bluetooth connection.
I must admit that I couldn’t muster too much enthusiasm for the MedAngel, initially. It sounded a little…unnecessary. Honestly, I didn’t think that I needed it.
I know that insulin needs to be refrigerated when it’s not in use. It’s good for 28 days once taken out of the fridge, and should then be disposed of. I’ve often stretched out post-holiday supplies beyond that timeframe, feeling guilty to waste something that’s so expensive. However, I guess I’ve never really given too much thought to what that exact storage temperature should be.
I first learned the concept of “spoiled insulin” last year, when my levels became seemingly impossible to tame. I’m also really conscious of temperature every time I go to the beach on a blazing hot day. But do I give a lot of thought towards the safe storage of my insulin day to day? Probably not.
Two weekends ago, I put my MedAngel to the test. I placed my sensor in the bar fridge with my insulin, and connected it via Bluetooth to the MedAngel app on my iPhone. There was a list of medications to choose from, and I was easily able to find both my Novorapid Penfill cartridges and Lantus pens. I told the app that I was “Storing” unopened medication, and I was good to go.
Soon enough, the app began alerting me that the insulin in my fridge was below the safe storage temperature of 2-8 degrees.
I spent the rest of that weekend cautiously adjusting the temperature in my fridge. When I started out, the temperature dial in my fridge was sitting inbetween “Colder” and “Midpoint.” By the time my fridge had reached a safe storage temperature, the dial was sitting inbeweeen “Midpoint” and “Warmer.”
While I suspected that I might have to make my fridge a bit colder, I was hardly expecting the complete opposite. I couldn’t believe that my insulin had been sitting at borderline freezing point for all this time.
My only negative is that I had to be in the same room as the sensor, in order to receive the temperature via Bluetooth. There was also no ability for me to manually “refresh” to obtain a new reading, but that’s just me being impatient…
The results really did speak for themselves. It was a lower trafficked fridge, and it was a really cold weekend. But still…the results were eye opening.
This is a really, really amazing product.
If you think this issue doesn’t affect you, then you need to try this product.
The MedAngel is available online, and it ships worldwide.
For those of you in Australia, MedAngel is also available through One and 2 Diabetes Accessories.