[ljkhalf]

Hi everyone, I am new to this sight. I am hopping to get some feed back on air bubbles in the cartridge of the ping. I have spent many hours on the phone with Animas and in the clinic trying to work out this problem with no luck after about 10 hour they are back. I have tried - New warm insulin- letting it sit out on the counter for 2 days then using it, replaced pump, had the trainer load it (same problem), different lot of cartridges, different lot of sets, nothing we have done has stopped the problem from happening. I use the inset 6mm insets and was wondering if anyone else was having this problem. I know that MM had a problem this spring with there sets causing this problem, the posts from spring that were having trouble with air bubbles did not say what sets thay were using or if the problem got resolved. I am hoping that someone will have some other suggestions for me. Thanks so much.

[JJM335]

As a Minimed user, I can't comment on anything that might be Ping-specific. However what works for me is to fill the cartridges one change ahead.

I get about 3 days out of a cartridge. [As I cannot reliably get more than 2 days out of an infusion set, I change the cartridge and set separately, each on its own schedule.] When I have to change the cartridge I put the one I filled 3 days earlier into the pump, fill another one and keep it with my supplies ready for the next change. Even using warmed insulin, I often find that bubbles have formed in the cartridge. I knock them up to the top, fit the cap and tubing and put the cartridge into the pump. I keep the cartridge vertical all the time which means orienting the pump when I put the cartridge in. I prime the tubing, still keeping the pump oriented with the cartridge vertical. This primes the bubbles out.

I suspect that after 3 days sitting in the cartridge at room temp, no more bubbles form. As you may be a new pumper (or at least the parent of a new pumper), you should be aware that there is no need to change the cartridge and set at the same time. When you change the set, you will need to hang onto the tubing so you have it available for the next cartridge change.

Hope that helps.

Joel

[Lizzy]

Originally Posted by ljkhalf

Hi everyone, I am new to this sight. I am hopping to get some feed back on air bubbles in the cartridge of the ping.

I use the Insets too. I have found for me, the best way to get rid of bubbles is when filling the cartridge I put just a very little amound of air in the vial. Like maybe ten units. It does make the plunger harder to pull back to fill, but it works for me. And the big bubble that comes in at first is much more easier to knock out (I hit the cartridge with a pen). Good Luck.

[poodlebone]

I use Minimed, not Animas. I use room temperature insulin and try to draw it into the reservoir slowly. I tap the reservoir to collect any air bubbles and push them out before connecting my tubing. Everything may look perfect but the following day I see some bubbles. I've read that it's because once you have the reservoir/cartridge in the pump it warms up a little more (even if it was room temp to start with) and that causes more air to come out of the insulin. Depending on what I see I either leave it alone or I rewind my pump, tap all of the bubbles together and purge them out of the reservoir and then prime it all over again. That usually fixes it for the rest of the life of the reservoir, which I continue to use until it's empty.

If your reservoir looks bubble free when you first start it and you see the bubbles appear later, you may just have to deal with purging them. It's not a defect in the cartridge or the pump.