850,000 to 1.7 million people deal with Type 1 diabetes every day in the United States alone. Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disease where the body produces autoantibodies that destroy the pancreatic beta cells, preventing the pancreas from producing insulin. Regulating insulin levels daily is a hard task for Type 1 diabetes patients, even for those on strict regimens. There are a large percentage of diabetics who are not at the target levels of daily insulin needed because they are unable to control the amounts.
However, there is new research that can aid in regulating insulin. In 2005, the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF) launched a campaign known as the Artificial Pancreas Project to help jumpstart the productions of automated insulin management systems. This artificial pancreas is an automated system that would regulate the insulin levels according to the blood sugar levels of the body, much like a normal pancreas in a healthy body.
A multi-million dollar fund aided in the research needed to make this equipment ready for Type 1, and even Type 2 diabetes patients. This tool combines two known diabetic technologies, the insulin pump, and the continuous glucose monitor (CGM). The insulin pump is an external device that connects to the abdomen and allows for diabetic patients to inject insulin without the use of syringes. The CGM tracks blood sugar levels, and informs patients when injections are needed. In the artificial pancreas, the CGM is an internal implant that would measure the glucose levels in the body every minute or so, much like a normal working pancreas. This CGM would communicate wirelessly to an insulin pump that would automatically inject the correct amount of insulin needed depending on the patients’ diet, and exercise needs. This artificial pancreas would take the guess work out of determining the correct dose of insulin to inject for activities, therefore relieving patients of that duty.
Now, in 2010 and 2011, doctors and researchers have come together to determine the safety and testing guidelines of this artificial pancreas in trial patients. It has been tested on in-patient diabetics in hospitals for a couple of years, but doctors now want to try it in real world diabetic patients, and real-world scenarios.
This artificial pancreas system would be a breakthrough discovery for the world of diabetes. Imagine being a diabetic and never having to continuously check blood sugar levels and injecting insulin multiple times a day. Now, it can be possible to have a technologically advanced implant system do it for you, which would allow Type 1, and Type 2 diabetes patients to live relatively normal lives.
http://www.artificialpancreasproject.com/
This is a very interesting post on a topic which is relevant to many people. Several of my family members are affected by type II diabetes, and one of which has some type of implantation device, which I am now very interested to learn about. I am not sure if it is a monitoring device or some type of injection system though. Thanks for the post!
ReplyDeleteIt's very interesting that a device can detect blood/glucose levels and determine how much insulin needs to be injected. I think people with diabetes will find this very convenient.
ReplyDeleteI actually saw a little girl once wearing one of these. They seem to be a great way to deal with diabetes. The girl was running around playing with her friends, and didn't seem to have a care in the world. You could see the pack on her, but it didn't inhibit her in any way. It has to be extremely helpful for kids who would normally need their parents to help them test their blood/glucose levels. Having a machine do it automatically for them is just amazing and much more convenient.
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