sinocare iCan Continuous Glucose Monitoring System, Equipped with iCan CGM APP, Output Every 3 Minutes, Less Finger Pricks, 15-Day Wear-life, for Diabetes Management, Pack × 2

Easy to use and very good value for the money

I am a nurse and have been using CGMs to monitor for hypoglycemia and was interested in Sinocare as a more affordable option for myself. Unfortunately, I found the ICAN extremely unreliable and to confirm this I stimulated a Mixed Meal Postprandial Hypoglycemia Test whilst simultaneously wearing two different CGM types - ICAN and Dexcom for comparison [this involved fasting from 10pm, then drinking ensure at 9am, with an additional blood glucose taken every 30 minutes over a 5 hour period from 9am-3pm during which only water allowed]. I compared the readings from blood glucose finger prick (sinocare gold AQ meter), ICAN and Dexcom in a graph. The Dexcom and the fingerstick were very closely aligned between 4-6mmol throughout, however, the ICAN was consistently above this range giving readings with a difference as big as 2.6mmol e.g. when my meter read 4.5 and the ICAN seemed to think I was 7.1 despite levels being stable without rapid changes [note: it is not expected to be identical as there is a lag between blood glucose and interstitial glucose, but the trends will still correlate and the readings should be fairly close together when levels are stable which was the case here]. Additionally, the ICAN doesn't allow for self calibration which could have resolved this issue and not having this option makes the device more unreliable. The company states that "calibration is not required because it is calibrated in the factory", however, many medical devices require regular calibration and worth noting that self calibration is possible with other CGM's brands on the market. Advise you save your time, money, and more importantly, your health, as the cost of a mistake in blood glucose readings is far too dangerous. The positive reviews I read on amazon appear to be from those who did not compare readings to a glucose meter. The app does have a nice layout, though this is somewhat irrelevant given the poor quality of the data.

Update. After used 3 sensors. +ve. Now much easier to apply than first. I think the lock had not disengaged or I had not turned it enough. -ve. Subsequent sensors have had an offset when compared to finger prick tests. Suspect location of sensor has an effect and obviosuly no way to move once on. You can adjust the low alarm value to stop the nuisance alarms but I think App could really do with ability to apply an offset. +ve. Using it to monitor affect of diet and exercise I have successfully prevented having to start diabetes treatment. Overall good value. . So far been using for a week with Android App. Accurate compared to finger prick tests right from the start. Remember that CGM typically lag finger prick tests by 10-20 mins. Better value than competitors, especially if you plan ahead and can allow long delivery. Global support replied to emails within 24 hours with helpful information. App works fine with one limitation. You cannot export/save the data via History_Report for the current sensor. After contacting support thinking I was doing something wrong they mentioned following feedback they are looking at adding this. In interim I take screen pics of the graphs if I need to create a report. App does not drain battery excessively. The iCan Reach app on a second mobile phone worked fine for real time monitoring/alarms. . The use of CGM has been quite eye opening. After adjusting diet and exercise timing I've already stopped the high spikes and lowered average value. Time will tell if I manage to keep it up and how it affects the HbA1c blood tests.

First time I’ve used this found it very useful to monitor my gcm now I can see what food I can eat and what I can’t very easy to use

Having used Libre several times I thought I'd give this a try given it's a bit cheaper. The instructions were okay, got it attached well and the app was very good. One drawback is the mandatory alerts you can't switch off. I don't want to be nagged if I'm just using it for awareness. If you turn off notifications (Android) it just pesters you to turn them back on. This would be easy to fix. Generally accuracy over 8 days was better than the LIbre, and faithfully recorded a reading every 3 minutes to the app. By comparison, Libre often disconnected and reported "when it felt like it." So how accurate is it? Well for me I found it almost spot-on, about 5 or 10 minutes behind the a regular fingerprick test. YMMV but this is a lot more accurate (for me) than the LIbre was. Sadly, it packed in on Day 8 and reported a malfunction and had to be removed. Within a day or two the manufacturer got in touch and they offered to refund me but by then I'd already returned it to Amazon. Took a while to hear from them but it's reassuring to know that their customer service will respond. I think I'll try them again.