A few weeks ago, the power button on my air conditioner remote started acting up.
At first it needed a harder press. Then a firmer press. Eventually I found myself jabbing at it repeatedly like I was trying to negotiate with the remote rather than operate it.
The rest of the buttons worked perfectly, so throwing away the remote felt wasteful. Besides, as an engineer, opening things up is usually more satisfying than replacing them.
Insulin pumps are nothing new. they have been around for decades, easing the administration of insulin to diabetes patients. most pumps look like an old ipod device, with a flexible tube going into the infusion set that punch through the skin and delivers to needed medicine to a fat tissue in the body. the omnipod dash combines all those element into one package the roughly side of a matchbox. the small size does limit the amount of insulin carried on board, but it well suited to children and adults that react to smaller doses.
the design restrictions of medical equipment are ample. and making such accurate device that is cheap enough so it can be discarded after only 3 days of work is an amazing feat. so I could not resist the temptation of opening up a used device and find out what’s inside.
(more…)one of the cheap LED lights started flickering so I decided to crack it open.
continuous blood glucose monitor are nothing short of a true wonder. for people with diabetic it is a enormous help in keeping their health. the continues knowledge of your blood sugar level is overwhelming even to those who’ve been constantly fighting the disease, and makes it easy to check trends and influences on your body.
Current devices takes a measurement every 15 minutes and store all that information. Then with a scan of the reader (or even your cellphone, if you’re willing to void warranty) it’s all downloaded and displayed.
Unfortunately, my wife got Type I diabetes, so she’s using the Freestyle Libre sensor. Each sensor works for 2 weeks and then disables itself, so it needs to be replaced.
Just had the opertunity to take apart a non working old chromecast. I hoped to find a connector wire that broke loose, but everything checked out. (more…)
