Artificial Pancreas Helps Regulate Blood Sugar Levels in Type 1 Diabetics

An insulin pump connected to a continuous glucose monitor through a smartphone can help keep track and control blood sugar levels.

Highlights

The artificial pancreas system can help in controlling blood sugar levels and reducing the risk of hypoglycemia in type 1 diabetics.
The artificial pancreas system //consists of an insulin pump and continuous glucose monitor placed under the user’s skin.
The continuous glucose monitor connected to a smartphone automatically signals the need for insulin and communicates with the pump to release insulin.
After 12 weeks of testing, the system was found to improve blood glucose control.

An artificial pancreas system that functions based on an algorithm in the smartphone can continuously monitor blood glucose levels and automatically deliver insulin.

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‘The artificial pancreas was designed to mimic the function of a healthy person’s glucose regulating function.’

The system has been tested in type 1 diabetics by the research team at the Harvard University. The artificial pancreas system consists of an insulin pump and continuous glucose monitor placed under the user’s skin.

Artificial Pancreas For Type 1 Diabetics

The research team has successfully developed an artificial pancreas system that uses an algorithm on a smartphone to continuously monitor glucose levels of the user and automatically delivers appropriate levels of insulin -- a game changer for diabetic patients.

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The team analyzed the use of the novel artificial pancreas system for more than 60,000 hours on participants in a 12-week, multi-site clinical trial.

An advanced control algorithm embedded in a bluetooth-connected smartphone signals how much insulin the pump should deliver to the patient based on a range of variables including meals consumed, physical activity, sleep, stress, and metabolism.

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How Does it Work?

People with type 1 diabetes must vigilantly monitor blood glucose levels and, when necessary, administer doses of insulin either via needle injections or infusion pump. The artificial pancreas is designed to mimic a healthy person’s glucose regulating function.

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The closed-loop system consists of an insulin pump and continuous glucose monitor placed under the user’s skin. An advanced control algorithm embedded in a blue tooth-connected smart phone signal how much insulin the pump should deliver to the patient based on a range of variables including meals consumed, physical activity, sleep, stress, and metabolism.

"This is by far the longest duration trial we have conducted, and it is a testament to the robustness of the algorithm that our key performance indices were maintained from our earlier, shorter trials," said Frank Doyle from the Harvard University.

Better Glycemic Control

Hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) dropped down from 7.0% to 6.7% after 12 weeks. Glycosylated hemoglobin is one of the major assessing tools to detect blood sugar control. The episodes of hypoglycemia reduced during the day as well as during the night.

The study concludes that the novel artificial pancreas system ensures better glycemic control and hypoglycemia in type 1 diabetics.

Reference

Eyal Dassau, Jordan E. Pinsker, Yogish C. Kudva, Sue A. Brown, Ravi Gondhalekar, Chiara Dalla Man,Steve Patek, Michele Schiavon, Vikash Dadlani, Isuru Dasanayake, Mei Mei Church, Rickey E. Carter,Wendy C. Bevier, Lauren M. Huyett, Jonathan Hughes, Stacey Anderson, Dayu Lv, Elaine Schertz, Emma Emory, Shelly K. McCrady-Spitzer, Tyler Jean, Paige K. Bradley, Ling Hinshaw, Alejandro J. Laguna Sanz,Ananda Basu, Boris Kovatchev, Claudio Cobelli and Francis J. Doyle III. 12-Week 24/7 Ambulatory Artificial Pancreas With Weekly Adaptation of Insulin Delivery Settings: Effect on Hemoglobin A1c and Hypoglycemia. Diabetes Care (2017), https://doi.org/10.2337/dc17-1188.

Source-Medindia