Accu-Chek Spirit

Roche Diagnostics launched the Accu-Chek® Spirit insulin pump system in October, 2006. Roche acquired the durable Disetronic pump line in 2003 and then redesigned the pump and added additional features. The new system includes an insulin pump, a blood glucose monitor, and a PDA with bolus calculator software. The Accu-Chek system has everything needed for monitoring, analysis and insulin delivery as well as a choice of features that are important to people considering insulin pump therapy.

The Accu-Chek® Spirit insulin pump system includes:

• an Accu-Chek® Spirit insulin pump
• the choice of an Accu-Chek® Aviva, Accu-Chek® Compact Plus or Accu-Chek® Active meter
• a free Palm PDA or a Treo smart phone for an additional charge to perform bolus calculations and enable easy carb counting
• Accu-Chek Pocket Compass software with bolus calculation

Features such as three operating menus, four bolus options and five basal rate profiles make insulin pump therapy more flexible and convenient. The pump has side-mounted tactile buttons for no-look delivery, together with a bolus calculator on a separate PDA device. This allows the user to calculate a bolus discretely and program their pump for insulin delivery without ever having to remove their insulin pump from their pocket, purse, or bra. The screen can be quickly aligned to a vertical or horizontal display so the user can wear the pump the way they want.

Spirit® features include alternate basals, extended boluses, two easy methods for precise bolus delivery, vibration and audio modes, precise measurement of residual insulin, a continuous clear display, backlighting, lots of additional memory for basals and boluses, waterproof design, etc. A single AA alkaline or rechargeable battery lasts around 4 weeks. Basal insulin delivery occurs every 3 minutes, regardless of basal rate. 

The Spirit® sports a 315 unit cartridge. The Spirit® has a bidirectional infrared (IR) port which can communicate directly with IR ports common to today's computers. Data can also be downloaded to a PC, and basal rate profiles can be uploaded from a PC to the pump. The Spirit® also has a child-block feature that is helpful for younger children. When the child lock is activated, the pump can be temporarily reactivated by a parent or school nurse to give a bolus. Afterwards, it will automatically relock itself.