Before Tandem, Medtronic, and Omnipod had commercial automated insulin delivery (AID) systems on the market, a group of developers, parents, and people with diabetes quietly built one of their own. Frustrated by the fragmented nature of diabetes technology in the early 2010s—where insulin pump and CGM data lived in silos and cloud-based syncing was virtually nonexistent—this group of innovators didn’t wait for the medical device industry to catch up. They cracked into their own devices, stitched together data pipelines, and created open-source solutions that allowed insulin delivery to be automated based on real-time glucose data.

This DIY movement wasn’t born in a lab or a boardroom—it started in bedrooms, coffee shops, and Facebook groups. Tools like Nightscout emerged to bring CGM data to the cloud. Others like OpenAPS and Loop took it further, combining CGM and pump data with homemade algorithms to create fully functioning AID systems. One of the most pivotal moments came in 2014, when software developer Ben West figured out how to remotely communicate with a Medtronic pump. Coupled with earlier work from Nightscout, the core components for DIY closed-loop insulin delivery were suddenly in the hands of the community. These were systems that didn’t just visualize data—they acted on it.

At the same time, people like Brandon Arbiter were exploring similar needs. After being misdiagnosed with type 2 diabetes and ultimately learning he had type 1, Brandon became obsessed with solving his own pain point: the inability to see his glucose and insulin data side by side. This led him to build a prototype app that combined Dexcom and Medtronic data, layered with restaurant check-ins to analyze his meal boluses. That work would help lay the foundation for the Tidepool platform—and eventually, for FDA-cleared Loop now on the twiist insulin pump, which originated as an open-source project.

I had the chance to sit down with Brandon for an in-depth conversation on the podcast about this journey—from his early days hacking together meal data to co-founding Tidepool and helping bring open-source Loop to the FDA. We talked about how a single bold idea can ignite an industry, the behind-the-scenes stories that shaped the DIY movement, and what the future of diabetes care looks like in a world of real-time data and proactive care models. You can listen to the full episode above or watch the episode below.

Disclaimer: Diabetech content is not medical advice—it’s for educational purposes only. Always consult with a physician before making changes to your healthcare.