Medtronic finally retires the name “Paradigm”

There’s been one change in the June NDSS pump consumables list, and that’s simply a name change for many (but not all) of Medtronic’s infusion sets.

Instead of names like “Medtronic Paradigm Sure-T” you will now see “Medtronic MiniMed Sure-T”. But the devices themselves are unchanged.

Any infusion sets with “Medtronic MiniMed” in their name are only for Medtronic’s own pumps. The Medtronic infusion sets without MiniMed (or Paradigm) in their names have luer-lock connections on their tubing and can be used with pumps such as the Accu-Chek Combo (amongst others). This was discussed here back in April.

History of names

Many people seem confused by the names “Paradigm” and “MiniMed”, so a history lesson is probably in order.

Back in the early 1980s a company called MiniMed introduced their 502 insulin pump. They were an early leader in this field, and had the 502, 504, 506, 507, 507c and 508 (the last two were introduced in 1999). These pumps used standard luer-lock connections to their infusion sets.

In 2001 the medical behemoth Medtronic entered the diabetes care market by acquiring MiniMed, and the name MiniMed has lived on in that Medtronic division and all their insulin pumps since. All those MiniMed pumps instantly became “Medtronic MiniMed” pumps.

In 2002 the Medtronic MiniMed Paradigm 511 was introduced, using a new style of reservoir and a proprietary infusion set tubing connector. These are still used today with Medtronic’s latest 670G pump.

The “Paradigm” pump family included the following:

• 511
• 512/712 (the 5-series use 180U reservoirs, the 7-series can also use the larger 300U reservoirs)
• 515/715
• 522/722
• Veo 554/754 (only sold outside the US)
• Revel 523/723 (only sold in the US)

All of these had the word “Paradigm” somewhere on the device. The physical design of the pump bodies was identical (although the 7-series was slightly longer to accept the larger reservoir). Accessories (cases, etc) are identical for all the 5-series bodies. Some of those are shared with the 7-series bodies.

The boxes of consumables also often had the word “Paradigm” in the name, as they were unchanged from the 511 onwards. Actually it’s seemed like jumbled and confused branding. I’ve seen the following examples:

• Medtronic
• Medtronic Paradigm
• Medtronic MiniMed Paradigm

In fact in the cover image of this article you can see a box labelled “MiniMed Silhouette” which also has “Silhouette Paradigm” on the side.

The Revel pumps were introduced in 2010. Then 2013 saw the introduction of the US-only MiniMed 530G which shared the same physical design. But they had decided to stop using the “Paradigm” brand.

Continuing the change, in 2014 Medtronic introduced the MiniMed 620G pump with a new body design, and they have used that ever since, on the 630G/640G/670G pumps. But the Paradigm consumables were unchanged.

Now in 2020

This may have happened overseas already, but now in 2020 Medtronic Australia have officially changed the name of the consumables.

The Medtronic part numbers are different (e.g. the Medtronic Paradigm Silhouette MMT-368 is being replaced by the Medtronic MiniMed Silhouette MMT-368A) but the devices themselves (and their NDSS order codes) are unchanged.

Remember, anything without Paradigm or MiniMed in the name will have a luer-lock pump connection. Originally for the MiniMed 50x pumps, but Medtronic are still happy to sell them to anyone.

Incidentally, the boxes of “Medtronic MiniMed” reservoirs have had part numbers ending in A for some years now. And amusingly the “Medtronic MiniMed” infusion sets on Medtronic Australia’s own website do not end in A. I think the person updating the website might have forgotten to make that change. I won’t be surprised to see the confusion continue for a while.