A Silly Patch
Our Story
Being diagnosed with Diabetes is hard. Fitting in is already hard enough. So, having to wear an ugly insulin pump infusion site and/or CGM sensor daily that may fall off (at any time during activities) is not fun and can de-motivate you to be active. All taped up like a medical mishap is not cool.
Managing Diabetes now is easier than ever with new technology. Products like Dexcom continuous blood glucose monitors (CGM) and Omnipod tubeless insulin pumps or Medtronic, Animas and many other insulin pumps, make being a diabetic more manageable and successful. Having these devices falling off before they should and or getting in the way while being active is a downfall of these devices. I have found a way to empower your device while keeping it secure by creating an adhesive silly patch with a unique sketch or graphic design that looks cool and secure your device.
The first time I used my Dexcom I did not like how it felt after just a couple days of wearing it around, it worked its way loose a little and I could feel the sensor poking me as the tape was pulling away from my skin, it was uncomfortable. It was also getting looser every time in the shower and when I got hot and sweaty or went swimming in the ocean or pool it was even worse.
Living in Florida and being active at the beach and around water is my life. These activities and lifestyle did not work well with my Dexcom sensors and many common activities made my CGM fall off early or get loose and become very unconformable and then required sensor replacement. First i began cutting out bandages and tape to put over my sensors at first but they were ugly and did not last. Then I looked online and was not able to find anything helpful so I just managed with ugly Band-Aids and loose tape, they looked horrible and made me feel like an escaped medical patient with a weird device on my belly. There was not much confident I had when people saw me with my shirt off.
So started out talking to many tape suppliers about medical device tape and what I was trying to do. The tape suppliers were eager to work with me and make this dream of mine a reality and helped me find a durable, water resistant, soft, and safe on skin adhesive material that I put through my die cutting machine to cut to all these unique designs.
After talking to 3M distributors and other adhesive material suppliers and learned a lot about the different types of medical device tape and temporary tattoo products. After sampling many different tapes, I decided to use a 3M 1529. It is Hypoallergenic Pressure Sensitive Adhesive medical device tape made with Acrylate adhesive that is safe on skin while strong and water resistant. Great for active kids of all ages.
So, I created a business and designed patches to help these devices and pumps fit into your lifestyle, while staying secured to your body while being active with a custom sketch design for your personal style. As a graphic designer working for a civil engineering company that draws bridges and structures all day, I have come up with many fun designs for boys & girls and kids of all ages, even some for us adults. I can even make personal sketches of any picture you give me, ie your dog Spot or any pet, car, object or design.
After seeing how popular the idea for having an additional patch to help secure these devices I hired an attorney to help me file a Copyright for my logo and file a provisional patent for the Intellectual property idea I have. I am proud to say I have submitted an application to the US patent office. US Serial No. 62/571,476Attorney Docket No.: JFORR0001PSPFiled: Oct. 12, 2017Matter Title: SECURING PATCH FOR CONTINUOUS GLUCOSE MONITORING SYSTEM
Being diagnosed with Diabetes is hard. Fitting in is already hard enough, A Silly Patch is better way to keep diabetic insulin infusion sites and CGM sensors attached.