Last Updated on October 26, 2024
For years, type 1 diabetics have had to rely on glucose meters and insulin pumps. This could quickly become obsolete technology as new advancements are being tested. The idea of an artificial pancreas could be a lot closer than most of us thought. Two trials of an artificial pancreas have been approved to look at the efficiency and safety of long-term use.
The “artificial pancreas” isn’t designed to be a replica replacement for an organic pancreas. Instead, it’s designed to be an all-in-one automatic replacement. The pancreas is a close-loop computer system that can administer insulin doses, track blood sugar levels, and predict possible hyper or hypoglycemic episodes throughout the day. The artificial pancreas can deliver the insulin by analyzing the small changes inside of the body.
The artificial pancreas system was designed at the University of Virginia School of Medicine and Harvard University researchers and is funded by the U.S. National Institutes of Health. The U.S. National Institutes of Health have provided around $13 million in the artificial pancreas project in hopes that it could provide a new venue for treating type 1 diabetes. Francis Doyle III, the Dean of Harvard’s School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, said that “The idea is that this can lead to an improved quality of life for individuals with this disease – not a solution to diabetes, but a means to extend really the quality of their healthful living.”
There will be two testing sessions, each will last for six months and will include 240 patients with type 1 diabetes at nine different locations across the United States and Europe. With these trials, researchers are going to compare the artificial pancreas to traditional insulin pumps. They will collect data based on the participants experiences with the artificial pancreas and how well their diabetes is managed throughout the six month period. After the first six month period, 180 of the people with diabetes will be followed for an additional six months after that.
The concept of an artificial pancreas is not new, it is several decades old. The first “artificial pancreas” was developed in the 1970s but was cumbersome, unpractical, and immobile. As technology has improved, the idea of a practical and affordable pancreas replacement technology has become more realistic. The large computers and dozens of wires required have been replaced with wireless internet and smartphones. Over the past four decades, there are dozens of studies that have looked at the possibility of using an artificial pancreas.
If the artificial pancreas excels through these clinical trials, it could completely change the way type 1 diabetes live their lives. The researchers plan to have larger trials completed in a few years to provide more data for FDA approval. Having this new system could create a seamless life for type 1 diabetics that are used to being burdened down with all the complications that come with the disease. Type 1 patients will no longer have to measure their glucose levels and adjust their treatments based on that; the artificial system will take care of that. No longer will diabetics have to worry about their blood sugar levels spiking after dinner or experiencing hypoglycemic episodes while you’re at work. The automatic delivery system could also drastically reduce the health complications from diabetes.
While the new system isn’t a “cure” for type 1 diabetes, it is another step in treating it. If the system proves to be safe and more efficient than traditional methods, in a few short years, these artificial pancreas could enter the healthcare market. Only time will tell if this new technology can stand up to the individual challenges and obstacles that each type 1 diabetic faces. Hopefully, the days of finger pricking, constant glucose monitoring, and carb counting could all be techniques of the past.
