Did you know that you can view your glucose readings in real-time on your phone, tablet or smart-watch? If you have an Android mobile phone it is a piece of cake to achieve it in simple steps. We will help you connect your Medtronic 600 series insulin pump (eg. 640G, 670G etc) to your Nightscout website using your Contour Next Link 2.4 glucose meter.
What is Nightscout?
Nightscout is an open source tool that helps people suffering from Type 1 Diabetes to continuously monitor their blood glucose (BG). Their real-time BG data are uploaded from their CGM (Continuous Glucose Meter) to the cloud and presented in a personal website, smartwatch, smartphone apps and widgets.
What you will need:
- A Medtronic 600 series insulin pump.
600 series means that it’s a 6XX model, for example 630G, 640G, 670G or 680G. - A Contour Next Link 2.4 glucose meter.
It is usually provided along with a Medtronic insulin pump and designed specifically for the aforementioned pumps. It has wireless transmission capability, which is the key to transfer the data from your pump to the Cloud and specifically your Nightscout website. - A Nightscout website.
On a previous post we have described the full Nightscout setup for dummies. - An Android mobile phone.
The way described in this article is only available for Android mobile phone users. - An OTG (On-The-Go) cable.
One side will definitely be USB-A to connect with Contour Next Link 2.4, while the other side will be according to the port that your Android phone has. It can be either micro-USB or USB-C depending what your phone has. - Internet connection on your mobile phone.
Connection can be either WiFi or mobile data in order to keep the data flow when moving outside your house.
Procedure
Time needed: 40 minutes
Follow these simple steps below in order see your glucose readings in real time on your Nightscout website.
- Setup your Nightscout website.
Simply follow the Nightscout setup guide for dummies guide we have prepared for you. It will take around 30 minutes to set it up; our comprehensive guide will help you finish the procedure with success.
- Download the 600SeriesAndroidUploader app on your Android phone.
This app is created by Lennart Goedhart (@pazaan). It is Open Source and free to download ONLY via GitHub, a code hosting platform. This app is not available in Google Play Store.
a. Using your Android phone, navigate to 600SeriesAndroidUploader app’s page.
b. Click on the latest release available (on the right side of the page).
c. Expand the Assets dropdown and click on the 600-series-ns-uploader.apk in order to download the application on your Android phone. - Install the 600SeriesAndroidUploader app
Follow the steps below in order to install the app on your Android phone.
a. Navigate to the Downloads folder where you have downloaded the app on the previous step.
b. Open the 600-series-ns-uploader.apk and accept the requested rights for the app to work properly.
c. Follow the steps until the app is successfully installed. If the installation is blocked, then on your Android phone, you should go to Settings – Security – Unknown Sources and enable “Allow installation of apps from unknown sources” (This allows installing an app outside Google Play Store). You can turn it off after installing the app.
d. Open the app. - Setup the 600SeriesAndroidUploader app
In order to connect your 600SeriesAndroidUploader app to your Nightscout website, you need to make the following changes to your app’s settings. To achieve that, it is assumed that you have successfully finished Step 1 and you have on your possession your Nightscout URL and the API Secret.
Your Nightscout URL will have the format: https://yoursite.herokuapp.com
Your API Secret is the keyphrase that you have created while setting up your Nightscout website in Step 1. - Connect the Contour Next Link 2.4 to the OTG Cable
Connect your Contour Next Link 2.4 to the USB-A port of your OTG cable.
- Connect the OTG cable to your Android phone.
The Contour glucose meter will be immediately recognized by your phone and the app. You will then receive a pop up message “Open 600SeriesAndroidUploader when this USB device is connected?” Click the checkbox before “Use by default for this USB device”.
You can now monitor the Blood Glucose readings Real-Time in both your Android phone (even offline without an internet connection) or on your Nightscout website (internet connection on your mobile phone is required).
How it works:
- Medtronic Insulin Pump is sending a new Blood Glucose reading plus other useful data (like Basal profile, BOLUS treatments, carbs, battery status etc) wireless to your Contour Next Link 2.4 blood glucose meter.
- Contour is connected with the OTG cable to your Android phone and transfers all the received data via the wire.
- 600 Series Android Uploader app is processing the data and reflects them in the app’s interface.
- If Nightscout settings are set on the app’s main settings and there is an internet connection established on your Android phone, the data are uploaded to Nightscout (Cloud) and can be accessible by browsing to https://yoursite.nightscout.com.
Further customization is possible where you can:
- Check the BG readings on your Smart Watch
- Ask Google Home to tell you your real time BG
- Combine your real time BG readings with your smart home features using IFTTT integration. Eg. turn the smart lights red when your BG reading is LOW.
- Send an email to someone when you go LOW.
- Send an SMS to someone when you go LOW.
Disclaimer and Warning
As described here:
- All information, thought, and code described, is intended for informational and educational purposes only. Nightscout currently makes no attempt at HIPAA privacy compliance. Use Nightscout at your own risk, and do not use the information or code to make medical decisions.
- Use of code from github.com is without warranty or formal support of any kind.
- All product and company names, trademarks, servicemarks, registered trademarks, and registered servicemarks are the property of their respective holders. Their use is for information purposes and does not imply any affiliation with or endorsement by them.
- Please note – this project has no association with and is not endorsed by:
– Medtronic
– Ascensia Diabetes Care (formerly Bayer Diabetes Care)
