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Comment by mindcrime | Hacker News Reader

This is incredibly heart-warming to read, especially in light of all the negativity circulating around the tech world lately. This, and things like this, is what I want the tech sphere to enable for people. Technology that allows people to live a better life... or for some people, allowing them to live period.

Now I fully expect the top-rated comment on this story to quickly be a rant about how insane it is to use a non-FDA approved, DIY, device to manage something that is literally life or death...

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Is it insane to use an unapproved device? Yes.

But what's MORE insane is the number of people dying from insulin management problems with diabetes.

This is the equivalent of someone who invented a Do-It-Yourself Seat Belt, and was installing them in cars back in 1940. Sure I'd rather have a factory approved seat belt, but the DIY solution is helping a lot more than hurting.

> Medtronic’s latest FDA-approved product can now do most of the things the Farnsworths’ system can—for $7,000

Considering the price is affordable for most people I can see why people might object to instead relying on a $250 DIY unit.

There is Dexcom too. https://www.dexcom.com/

And apparently it is $250 when the pump is donated. Medically approved pumps are expensive. A lot of the safety control is in that pump and the protocol used to control it. It probably has two way confirmations at every step. Physical safety stops and controls. If you exclude the critical safety component (the pump) from the cost then it will be $250. That pump, with the safety controls and rigorous firmware development needed to pump insulin safely, is probably $4k-5k of the cost of the $7000 commercial pump. Also probably the reason there haven't been reports of people dying from their diy closed loop insulin pumps.

A lot of the pumps are either paid for or heavily subsidized by insurance companies. Supplies (insulin, sensors, delivery "needles", etc.) is what gets you

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