Insulin pump programming software with basal profile preview feature

1. A method of managing basal rate profiles for use on an insulin pump, including the steps of:

storing a file containing data corresponding to a basal rate profile for use by an insulin pump;

generating a thumbnail image including a graphical representation of the profile;

without opening the file to access the data, simultaneously displaying a file indicator associated with the file and the thumbnail image;

determining based on the graphical representation of the thumbnail image whether to access the data; and

opening the file to access the data in response to an operator's selection of the profile represented by the thumbnail image.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the file is stored in a memory location of a computing device.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the thumbnail image includes a representation of each basal rate in the profile on a graph having a time axis and a units per hour axis.

4. The method of claim 3 , wherein the thumbnail image further includes a total daily basal insulin value.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the file indicator includes a name of the file.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the file is a configuration file including general configuration data and a plurality of basal rate profiles.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the file is an individual basal rate profile file.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the thumbnail image is displayed in a preview pane with a plurality of other thumbnail images corresponding to other basal rate profiles.

9. The method of claim 8 , wherein the preview pane includes a scrollbar for browsing the plurality of thumbnail images.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein the generating step includes the step of receiving a basal insulin calculation input.

11. The method of claim 10 , wherein the thumbnail image represents a standardized basal rate profile modified based on the basal insulin calculation input.

12. The method of claim 1 , wherein the file is a profile set file including a plurality of basal rate profiles.

13. A method of programming basal rate profiles for use on an insulin pump, including the steps of:

retrieving a source file including data corresponding to a first basal rate profile for use by an insulin pump;

generating a first thumbnail image including a graphical representation of the first profile; and

replacing a target file on an insulin pump corresponding to a second basal rate profile with the source file;

wherein the replacing step includes the step of displaying the first thumbnail image with a second thumbnail image including a graphical representation of the second profile to permit an operator to review differences between the images and provide an input confirming a desire to complete the replacing step.

14. The method of claim 13 , further including the step of modifying the source file.

15. The method of claim 13 , wherein the replacing step further includes the step of displaying a critical change confirmation dialog box including the first and second thumbnail images when a daily basal insulin total corresponding to the first profile is greater than a daily basal insulin total corresponding to the second profile.

16. The method of claim 15 , wherein the replacing step further includes the step of receiving a second input from the operator confirming a desire to complete the replacing step.

17. The method of claim 16 , wherein the second input is a keyboard entry of the daily basal insulin total corresponding to the first profile.

18. A computer readable medium tangibly embodying a program of instructions executable by a computing device to perform method steps for programming insulin pumps, the method steps including:

generating a first thumbnail image including a graphical representation of basal rate profile data contained in a source file;

without opening the source file to access the data, displaying the first thumbnail image;

opening the source file to access the data in response to an operator's selection of the first thumbnail image; and

replacing basal rate profile data contained in a target file stored on a pump with the data represented by the first thumbnail image;

wherein the replacing step includes the step of displaying the first thumbnail image with a second thumbnail image including a graphical representation of the basal rate data contained in the target file to permit the operator to review differences between the images.

19. The medium of claim 18 , wherein the method steps further include the step of providing a dialog box for editing the data represented by the first thumbnail image.

20. The medium of claim 18 , wherein the first thumbnail image includes a representation of twenty-four hourly basal rates on a graph having a time axis and a units per hour axis.

21. The medium of claim 18 , wherein the method steps further include the step of displaying a file indicator with the first thumbnail image, the operator's selection including selection of the file indicator.

22. The medium of claim 18 , wherein the first thumbnail image is displayed in a preview pane with a plurality of other thumbnail images corresponding to other basal rate profile data.

23. The medium of claim 18 , wherein the replacing step further includes the step of displaying a critical change confirmation dialog box including the first and second thumbnail images when a daily basal insulin total represented by the first thumbnail image is greater than a daily basal insulin total represented by the second thumbnail image.

24. A system for programming an insulin pump, including:

means for generating a first thumbnail image including a graphical representation of basal rate profile data contained in a source file;

means for displaying the first thumbnail image without opening the source file to access the data;

means for accessing the data in response to an operator's selection of the first thumbnail image; and

means for replacing basal rate profile data contained in a target file stored on a pump with the data represented by the first thumbnail image;

wherein the replacing means includes means for displaying the first thumbnail image with a second thumbnail image including a graphical representation of the basal rate data contained in the target file to permit the operator to review differences between the images.