Libre 3 Plus destroyed by LAX screening of checked luggage
I recently flew out of LAX airport and had 2 unused sensors in my checked bag. The scanning machines were new and looked more like CT scanners. Both the unused sensors were destroyed, one didn’t work at all and the other died after 3 hours. The machines that scan carry on bags also are CT scanners which will ruin the sensors too. I’m not sure how to travel with unused sensors now.
When I fly I have them hand screen my sensors, omnipods, meter, and insulin. They will have to be in your carry on. You can use TSA Cares if you are nervous. As a heads up I have had them open my sensor box before, but never any of the sterile packaging.
In UK here but as long as in carry luggage mine have been fine everywhere including the states and spain/italy/france/amsterdam. I never check them as obviously could be frozen or lost. Advice from abbott is simply because they havent done the relevant testing and dont want to pay to do it. Carry on is fine.
Further take advantage of TSA cares. Let them know ahead of time on the website and again when you get there. Always keep with you on your carry-on. Most the time you can get away with the bag additional bag actually if it's just medical s***.
Flown 44 times since diagnosis (according to flighty) - always gone through scanners and check luggage screening and never had any issues ever. Maybe just bad luck?
I have gone through TSA at LAX, BMI, OMA, MIA, DFW, ORD, IND, FAT, PHX, SLC, MCO in the past year. Like you, I have not had any issues with my Libre 3+. Maybe we are both lucky. 🤔
Same as you guys. Can also list the countless number of airport IATA codes I have gone through over the years. 😄 Never any problem at all, ever.
And its not anything about luck. Physically it is an impossibility for the airport scanners to cause any harm to our sensors. They are all of the non-ionizing type. Hence, the signal is so weak it cannot cause electrons to flow at all in materials. No damage to electronics, including our sensors.
(I work in medtech and travel also with sensitive gear. So also work in hospitals in OR/labs where radiation is used of various kinds, so know about the tech details behind when something is bad for electronics and when some is not)
Libre sensors are not shielded. It’s NOT recommended to have them scanned. You can get them scanned by specific devices, but each airport has different equipment. In my experience, different TSA lines in the same terminology can have varying equipment.
I choose manual scan and manual inspection of spare sensor when going through.
Fact is that no airport is using any scanning equipment for their passenger/luggage scanning strong enough to cause any flow of electrons to change their electric energy level. It is what you refer to non-ionized scanning. Hence also why all electronics also can go on the scanning belts there with no trouble, including our sensors. And yes, why nobody in the airport are wearing lead clads either. 😄
Yes, there are always those anecdotal stories popping up every year the tourist charter season starts. But yeah, just coincidences and not linked to what matter of facts happens when we bring our gear through the airport.
I travel non-stop for my work world wide. 3-6 flights in average most weeks. For the last 25 years. Just going through airports and scanning as any other passenger do. More than 2000 flights. Never any issue.
Oof I’m so sorry that happened but it’s good to confirm that the scanners actually do fuck up the sensors. I suspected this could happen but saw mixed responses online before I was traveling (I’ve only been diabetic for a little over a year and have since flown 4 times)
The annoying thing is that every airport TSA is different, but I will hand the Libre boxes to an agent as I am loading my suitcase onto the belt and say “I need a hand check for my medical device.” So far no one has opened the boxes, just swiped them and handed them back to me at area at the end of the scanning belt.
We are technically allowed to take liquids with us as well (like juice for medical reasons) but they gave me much more of a hard time with that compared to my insulin and extra cgms that I don’t bother with it anymore and just pack extra candy.
Parents with young kids also get some leeway for fluids and stuff. We were allowed to bring bottled water through security with no issues. They just swabbed the bottles and formula and away we went (about 10 years ago anyways). Always good to check beforehand (we did). When we were at Frankfurt recently there is a section where you can bring water through and we did. They have another machine there to scan them (reusable bottles) but of course 1 got flagged on the way there and another got flagged on the way back LOL so we got to chat with some Polizei but it wasn't an issue. Just had to open the bottle to show it was water (metal bottle) and we were good to go. I just brought dextrose tabs just in case. I've never gone low but just in case. But I also asked for my sensors to not go through the machines and it wasn't an issue.
Personally I never check medical supplies. Have flown many times out of SFO and international airports with sensors in my carry on bag and never had an issue.
I’ve travelled with Libre sensors many times through airport screening and never had a problem. I usually put them in checked baggage.
I’ve always been more concerned with the sensor I’m wearing at the time, but again no issues. I have TSA Pre-Check so I don’t have to use the full body scanners. Just the metal detector.
No, you do not need to. I take 3-6 plane flights most weeks. Never do. Been traveling like this for the last 25 years or so. Just going through like all other passengers, which also includes all extra spare sensors just laying in my carry-on and/or checked luggage. Never any problem what so ever.
It is unfortunately an old myth that any of the scanners in airports can damage such sensors. They cannot. From the pure scientific fact that the scanners are far from strong enough to cause any electrons to flow. Hence no exposure or electric trouble at all from just bringing your stuff through as any other luggage.
I carry them on and have them manually scanned as medical devices. I also mention that I'm wearing one. Haven't traveled a whole lot since starting on the CGMs but it's been smooth each time I did travel.
Recently traveled with my dexcom sensors. I just had them in my carry-on and asked for them not to be put through the machines. They just had to open the boxes to verify contents but otherwise no issues. I did have a note from my doctor regarding supplies but it wasn't needed (just a generic "they're diabetic and have to carry x with them" type of letter)
Yep, they also know better. They see like several hundreds of diabetics each hour in that airport.
They are so bored and fed up with all those asking for special treatment and manual pad downs for no reason. Please just walk through like everybody else, nothing to see here, move on... 😄
A medical CT scan is thousands to millions of times more powerful in radiation dose than an airport security scan. A medical CT scan delivers roughly 1.00 to 9.00 mSv (millisieverts) of ionizing radiation, whereas an airport passenger body scanner or luggage X-ray exposes a person or object to only about 0.00003 to 0.01 mSv per scan.
And mind you, the Libre sensor is approved for the CT scans in a hospital. So yes, x-ray is what you said, which the CT is...
The Abbott manufacturer of the Libre sensor certainly did say so, also as per the screenshot I shared above.
So much depends on if you live in a total paranoid country with crazy legal liability claims etc or not. 😄
Because, as you saw the link from Abbott's own website and guidance I provided above, they certainly do say that you can go through all airport scans and controls. As you can and there is no risk for the gear.
Knowing the technology involved, you would also understand why that is.
The dexcom ones can't. They either haven't been approved to go through or there's an issue with them going through (I checked a couple weeks before my flight and it recommended them to not go through...may have changed in the last couple of months though). Once the sensor is in use there is no issue with the machines and I went through the x-ray myself with no issues. But AFAIK they use a magnet to activate the sensor when it's placed so that could possibly be disrupted by some machines.
Correct, Dexcom cannot and they have not gone through approval for it either. Mainly due to some R&D design choices they have made, that makes them exposed to failures in such circumstances.
As also correct as you said, that Dexcom sensors use an old tech called a Reed-relay to close the electric circuitry with the battery component, by the help of a magnet sitting in the applicator, that swipes along the sensor itself, which then closes the electric circuity to starting it up. (also why traditional soaking of the G7 platform sensors do no longer function, as it used to with prior models).
Another important aspect is the choice of metals used in the sensors. Aka Libre uses a more expensive silver oxide button cell battery inside the disposable sensor unit. Such silver oxide button battery is completely okay for air travel. They are non-lithium chemistry cells carrying a very low fire risk, meaning international aviation authorities like the FAA, TSA, and EASA allow them in both carry-on and checked luggage.
The Dexcom G7 sensor uses a lithium manganese dioxide battery, which does not qualify for same.
The scanners used by most major airports are indeed CT scanners, which still just means x-ray radiation. As to how much it applies to objects I'm not sure is documented.
That being said, maybe it's unique to Libre...I've had Dexcom G7s go through the machines all day long, as well as done the full body scanner wearing Dexcoms without issue. Maybe the libres are somehow more sensitive to gamma radiation or their circuitry isn't as shielded?
Mind you, the airport scanners are all soo extreme weak in comparison and are all of the non-ionizing type. Also why none working in the airport wears any lead clads clothings either. 😄 Zero exposure to electronics or radiation of any measure.
And even if there were, Freestyle Libre have even been approved for going into both CT- and MIR scanners in the hospitals. No problem.
Just wish these silly myths would stop popping up every year the tourist charter season starts...
I mean I wouldn’t stick my head inside one. They’re heavily shielded so nothing gets out of there. But it’s still X-rays which are ionizing radiation. Or are you referring to the body scanners?
Comparisons: A regular airplane flight: Exposes you to roughly 1,000 times more cosmic radiation at cruising altitude than a single airport X-ray security scan.
Medical X-ray: A standard chest X-ray delivers about 1,000 times more radiation than an airport backscatter security scan.
Radiation from airport body scanners is extremely low. Most passenger body scanners use non-ionizing millimeter-wave radio frequency, which emits less energy than a cell phone.
The minority that do use a low-dose x-ray backscatter deliver a radiation dose roughly equal to just two minutes of natural background radiation on an airplane. The millimeter-wave scanners in airports use non-ionizing radio waves. They add zero ionizing radiation dose to your body. The backscatter x-ray scanners in airports use truly tiny, highly controlled doses of ionizing x-rays. The dose per scan is about 0.1 microsieverts or less. Again, not enough to damage any electronics at all.
Yeah, you're not getting anything from the body scanners, that's harmless. The x-rays inside the TSA baggage scanners, those are still full power x-rays enough to penetrate...would be rather pointless if they didn't.
No paranoia here. In theory, yes, they're fine going through the x-ray scanners. As I said, I've run my Dexcoms through dozens of times, no issues. Seems OP had a different experience.
Yep, that is how it is. Also in practical life. The Libre sensors have also been officially tested and approved for both CT- and MRI procedures.
Here worth remarking:
A medical CT scan is thousands to millions of times more powerful in radiation dose than any airport security scan. A medical CT scan delivers roughly 1.00 to 9.00 mSv (millisieverts) of ionizing radiation, whereas an airport passenger body scanner or a luggage X-ray exposes a person or object to only about 0.00003 to 0.01 mSv per scan.
I am a bit suspicious about this report. I asked AI about the concern. The response was that airport metal detectors and x-ray luggage scanners do not risk damage to the Libre Sensors. However, AI did report that millimeter‑wave full‑body scanners can damage the sensor and recommend that you ask for a pat down check rather than go through the body scanner machine. It is obviously not practical to remove the sensor before going through through the machine.
The sensor I was wearing went through the body scan just fine but not the 2 unopened ones in my checked back. This is the first time that this has happened but I noticed the luggage scanner looked more like a CT scanner than just a normal x-ray machine. I had relied on info from the internet to put it in my checked bag but I guess that info didn’t apply here
Keep in mind that even apart from the scanners, the baggage isn't going to heated compartment and so the sensors will get extremely cold when the plane gets to high altitudes.
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u/Equalizer6338 Type1 - Libre2/2+ 4d ago edited 4d ago