A new Lancet study has reported that scientists in Cambridge have developed an artificial pancreas that can regulate blood sugar levels in children with Type 1 diabetes.
Type I Diabetes, or Juvenile diabetes, is a condition wherein the pancreas does not produce insulin, the hormone responsible to lower blood sugar levels.
A glucose monitoring system and the insulin pump is already available commercially, but researchers have developed a sophisticated algorithm to aid in a closed loop system – the algorithim calculates the appropriate amount of insulin to administer based on real-time blood sugar monitoring. This “artificial pancreas” then was compared to childrens’ regular pump which delivers insulin at preselected rates.
Overall, the results showed the artificial pancreas kept blood glucose levels in the normal range for 60% of the time, compared with 40% for the continuous pump.
The study was done on children, and with the results it has, making this available for adults with Type 1 diabetes shows promise as this would improve their quality of life as well.
This post is tagged artificial pancreas, diabetes, juvenile diabetes
