Tandem Diabetes Care Issued Patent for Portable Infusion Pump Safety Features

Tandem Diabetes Care Inc., manufacturer of the only touchscreen insulin pumps available in the United States, has been issued a U.S. patent relating to important safety features for the prevention of inadvertent changes in touchscreen enabled ambulatory infusion pumps, including insulin pumps. The touchscreen may be on the pump itself or be in wireless communication with a pump.

“We are the first and only company to receive FDA approval of an insulin pump with a touchscreen. This patent significantly strengthens our intellectual property position surrounding Tandem’s user interface and the implementation of important features in other ambulatory infusion pumps that utilize touchscreen control,” said Kim Blickenstaff, president and CEO of Tandem Diabetes Care. “This new patent validates the novel solutions we developed to give users the security of operating a life-sustaining medical device using a touchscreen and protects the creative solutions developed at Tandem.”
 
The user interface for the t:slim, t:slim X2, t:flex and t:slim G4 Insulin Pumps were developed based on information and feedback collected from thousands of interviews, focus groups and online surveys to understand what people with diabetes, their caregivers and healthcare providers wanted in order to improve diabetes therapy management. The company also used human factors research in its development process so that users can more successfully operate their insulin pump in its intended environment.
 
U.S. Patent No. 9,715,327, titled, “Preventing Inadvertent Changes in Ambulatory Medical Devices,” is scheduled to expire in 2033. The company has a related U.S. continuation application on file, as well as a pending application in Europe.

Tandem Diabetes Care now has 55 issued U.S. patents and 51 pending U.S. patent applications. In addition, the company has, and is seeking, patent protection for proprietary technologies in other countries throughout the world.
 
Tandem Diabetes Care Inc. designs, develops, and commercializes products for diabetics who use insulin. The company manufactures and sells the t:slim X2 Insulin Pump, the slimmest and smallest durable insulin pump currently on the market, the t:flex Insulin Pump, the first pump designed for people with greater insulin requirements, and the t:slim G4 Insulin Pump, the first continuous glucose monitoring-enabled pump with touch-screen simplicity. Tandem is based in San Diego, Calif.