Cambridge based researchers have explained how an artificial pancreas can be used to regulate blood sugar levels in those with Type 1 diabetes. Using an insulin pump and a sensor which reacts off of “real time” data, the new developments described in The Lancet could offer hope for treating individuals at home.
Expressing that the advance was a major “step forward”, researchers explained how individuals with Type 1 diabetes, a life threatening condition, could be regulated at home. Collecting data from 17 hospitalised children, scientists created a complex algorithm to calculate the amount of insulin that the pump needed to provide for the body alongside real-time glucose figures. Comparing it against pumps which deliver a continuous, preselected rate of insulin, it was discovered that the artificial pancreas was better at keeping glucose levels within normal parameters, with a 60per cent success rate noted compared with 40per cent for traditional continuous drips. In addition the artificial pancreas also stopped blood glucose levels falling below 3.0mmol/l, considered as significant hypoglycaemia, whilst halved the amount of times mild hypoglycaemia was noted.
The Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation’s chief executive who funded the trial, Karen Addington said “We need to redouble our efforts to move the artificial pancreas from a concept in the clinic to a reality in the home of children and adults with type 1 diabetes,” adding that the principle benefits of artificial pancreas’s had been proved.
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when will this option be available to all type one diabetics.