Article Text

Download PDFPDF

Bubble formation occurs in insulin pumps in response to changes in ambient temperature and atmospheric pressure but not as a result of vibration
  1. Prudence E Lopez1,2,3,
  2. Bruce R King1,2,3,
  3. Peter W Goss4,
  4. Ganesh Chockalingam5
  1. 1John Hunter Children's Hospital, Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia
  2. 2Mothers and Babies Research Group, Hunter Medical Research Institute, Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia
  3. 3University of Newcastle, Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia
  4. 4Gippsland Paediatric Diabetes Unit, Sale, Victoria, Australia
  5. 5John Hunter Hospital, Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia
  1. Correspondence to Dr Bruce R King; bruce.king{at}hnehealth.nsw.gov.au

Abstract

Introduction Bubble formation in insulin pump giving sets is a common problem. We studied change in temperature, change in atmospheric pressure, and vibration as potential mechanisms of bubble formation.

Methods 5 Animas 2020 pumps with 2 mL cartridges and Inset II infusion systems, 5 Medtronic Paradigm pumps with 1.8 mL cartridge and Quickset and 3 Roche Accu-chek pumps with 3.15 mL cartridges were used. Temperature study: insulin pumps were exposed to a temperature change from 4°C to 37°C. Pressure study: insulin pumps were taken to an altitude of 300 m. Vibration study: insulin pumps were vigorously shaken. All were observed for bubble formation.

Results Bubble formation was observed with changes in temperature and atmospheric pressure. Bubble formation did not occur with vibration.

Discussion Changes in insulin temperature and atmospheric pressure are common and may result in bubble formation. Vibration may distribute bubbles but does not cause bubble formation.

  • Insulin Pump Therapy
  • Parenting Stress
  • Pediatric Diabetes

This is an Open Access article distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/

Statistics from Altmetric.com

Request Permissions

If you wish to reuse any or all of this article please use the link below which will take you to the Copyright Clearance Center’s RightsLink service. You will be able to get a quick price and instant permission to reuse the content in many different ways.