FreeStyle Libre Recycling

FreeStyle Libre Recycling - Sharps

DISCLAIMER:  The information contained in here is my own.  This information is not for everyone and is has not been reviewed or discussed with any representative of Abbott Diabetes Care Inc.  This process isn't for everyone.  You are solely responsible for the outcome of this process.  Be sure to properly dispose of the extracted needle using proper sharps management techniques.

If you have no experience with the Abbott FreeStyle Libre sensor application, consult the documentation that is included with the packaging provided by Abbott.  The information there is accurate, effective and achieve a properly applied sensor.

After doing all that is described, the Abbott procedure and documentation leave the disposal of the application hardware to you.  This documentation is simply what I've done to manage the issue.

Review Of Components

This discussion assumes you are familiar with the application of the sensor.  For review and reference the following images are provided to help clarify details.

Sensor and needle to install sensor

Applicator with electronics and adhesive

This is the electronics with the adhesive layer

Sensor plus needle attached to electronics ready to apply

Removing The Needle

Once the sensor has been applied to the skin, the application device looks like the picture below.  The position of the grey plastic carrier is extended out. 

Applicator after sensor applied

Each of the light grey oval points in the device shown above need to be pried loose to needle and application spring underneath.  To accomplish this task  I use a medium flat blade screwdriver.  The picture below shows approximately where to insert the screwdriver tip and pry apart the plastic bond.

Screwdriver to break plastic bond

While breaking the final  tab, be sure to hold the white plastic in place or you will have to retrieve the piece from wherever the spring sends it across the room.

Once the three bonds are separated, you will be able to remove the white piece:

White retaining plate

Left inside the applicator is the spring and needle used to place the sensor in the skin.

Applicator Spring

Remove the spring above to reveal the small insertion needle used to place the sensor in the skin.

Sharp needle in bottom of applicator

I reach inside the applicator and retrieve the sharp needle using a pair of hemostats.  I lock the hemostats on the needle and gently pull up.  The needle is easy to remove.

There really is nothing more to it than this.

Sensor needle removed from applicator

Next I fold the needle in half, shown below, and place in our sharps container.

After going through this process, you can see the pile of plastic and parts that don't have to be stored in the sharps container taking up space.  I  believe this plastic can be recycled as any plastic would be.

I save the springs for no particular reason other than I might find a use for them.

Android Tracking Software for E-Boarding

First Impression of ztrack Geotracker for E-Boarding

Not long ago I replaced my Samsung Galaxy Note 4 with a Note 8.  On the Note 4 I had a tool named "Geo Tracker" that I really liked.  I assumed that the Samsung transfer utility would have made this application available on my new Note 8.  This didn't happen.  I went looking for the application in the Android Play store and didn't locate it.  I did a little looking around at other applications and found one that had the summary page I liked from Geo Tracker.  The application was not free so I was a little hesitant.  Kind of an ironic position to take when you consider the cost of the Metro-Board Dual Drive combined with the Samsung Galaxy Note 8 phone. I went ahead and installed the $0.99 application and started exploring the features while driving to and from work.  I had the basics I was looking for.

Recently the weather in the Beaverton Oregon area has been nice enough to get out and do some riding on the Dual Drive.  I put together a 6.9 mile ride and thought I'd provide the first impressions of how the application worked as a skateboard tracker.

Initial map without track

The experience starts at the main screen where you have to turn on tracking.  The red dot in the upper right corner does this.  From there I placed the phone in my inside coat pocket and headed out.   If there are existing tracks on the screen, they will be retained so if you are beginning a new journey, you will need to remove existing tracks.  This is done by selecting "Clear" from the main menu - top left.  After that, the map display will be empty.

Start your recording by pressing the red dot to begin.  During the ride I put the phone inside my pocket but from watching on driving trips I observed the application attempting to track the current position on the map.  At higher speeds, 60mph+, the map under the position was no keeping up.   Not really a big deal since the position and data is collected.

At the conclusion of a ride I like to save the ride by adding a descriptive name.  This is accomplished by using the main menu "Edit" function to change the provided name.   At the conclusion of my ride, here is what the screen looked like after I turned off recording.  It is important to turn off recording so averages from the ride are locked in place.

Map Track

Zoomed Display

You can see I changed the name to 2018-03-10 Metroboard.   This display can be zoomed and panned to exploring the location.  I was surprised at the detail when I zoomed in to the area of the West Side trail, shown to the right.  While these displays are nice and well done, the most important data about the ride is distance, elevation, and velocity.  These are displayed very nicely in the Stats display.   The example Stats below shown below is pretty self explanatory.

Statistics Display

The things I'm interested in are

• Distance traveled
• Maximum speed
• Average speed
• Altitude

The Altitude information is pretty interesting for DualDrive owners like me because it shows that little elevation change impacts the Metro-board DualDrive.

After that I don't really care.  The whole point of riding the Metro-Board Dual Drive is to get away from other worries and enjoy.

In addition to the Stats display, there are a few other interactive displays that are fun to play with.  The "Distance vs Speed" display allows the instantaneous speed to be viewed relative to position of the journey.

Distance Vs Speed

An additional display in the Chart category that I like is the display of "Distance vs Altitude."  The overlay of altitude shows the nature of where I usually ride.