Artificial Pancreas news
I came across a report from the BBC about work on an artificial pancreas in Cambridge, England.Apparently trials are currently being done on 12 children aged from 5 to 18. The work involves a continuous glucose monitor that's fitted under the skin, though it's not clear who makes this.
The research is led by Dr. Roman Hovorka, and it seems as if they're making real progress. I also came across slides and audio for a presentation that he gave.
This is all part of the artificial pancreas project being led by JDRF. Sounds like this project will lead to some interesting treatment options.
Labels: artificial, JDRF, pancreas
posted by Bernard @ 11:43 AM
7 Comments:
Interesting, Bernard. Thanks for the link.
Interesting, indeed.
I'm going to keep my eyes on this one.
Makes you feel hope, doesn't it?
Bernard,
Thanks for the info. Why is Type 1 still referred to as Juvenile diabetes and is so focused on children when the data indicates that more kids have Type 2 and Type 2 is on the rise among the young?
Bernard,
I saw a segment about this on 'Newsround', a TV news show aimed at kids in the UK, that was presented by one of the kids in the trial. The whole segment was only about 3 minutes long, but I have to admit I didn't really get it. The device she was wearing, and showed to the camera, was a Medtronic 522 pump plus the CGM sensors. The diagramatic representation they used also seemed to show this. I guess I assumed that his was misreporting on the part of the BBC, since we all know that a pump, even one with integrated CGM, is NOT a true artificial pancreas!
However, it seems from the link that you've posted that they are trying to develop a computer algorithm to allow the sensor to talk to the pump.
I'm still deeply suspicious though. I have no idea how a computer algorithm could work as well as my own brain. For starters it will never know that I'm about to eat cheesecake in half an hour and that is why I want those 5 units right now, even though my blood sugar is normal. Nor will it know that I'm planning an hour at the gym, so I want a little less insulin than normal to cover my lunch. Nevermind the fact that you'd have to wait for your blood glucose to rise before the sensor told the pump to deliver insulin which would then take at least 20 minutes to act while your blood sugar continued to go up! I'm more for the pro-active than the reactive course, and for now, as much of a pain as it may be, I'd rather stick to my own calculating!
Oh, and, as a user of the 522, I know the values aren't always accurate. I wouldn't want the pump delivering any insulin without my approval. Since it can already suggest doses to me when prompted, it seems the only benefit of this device would be suggesting doses before I asked for them. But even that is kind of covered by the sensor glucose level alerts anyway!
Sorry if I sound kind of down on this, just my two cents!
Caro
I don't think you're being down at all. My guess is that the initial versions of this pancreas would be an open loop type of system like you can have today with a CGMS and a pump. Later they'll close the loop but that would be mostly for adjusting basals to keep the BG values constant.
To get to the closed loop stage I think we'll need newer insulins that are done within 2 hours. And they may even need to figure out how to get this insulin into the portal vein or somewhere that it can start to act faster.
To deal with boluses properly we'll have something that we can dial carb, fat, fiber and protein values into that will accurately account for how those work for us at different times of the day.
My guess - it'll be another 5-10 years before this makes it out of the labs into any usable type of form.
In the meantime, it's worth keeping an eye on these developments because they'll probably help us while we're waiting for something better to come along.
I saw the slide show + audio and it was very interesting. I also think it accurately acknowledged the difficulties involved. Me, I never automatically accept my pumps correction bolus recommendations. There are just too many elements, I trust my head more than the pump! Anyhow, if we do not start tackling the problems we will never achieve anything. On another subject - so Bernard I read on another site that you only took 1/2 of a 10mg Lipitor pill every other day. I have been advised to continue taking lipitor (1/2 of a 10mg pill EVERY day) because Lipitor has other cardiovascular benefits beyond lowering cholesterol. I suggested to my endo the decrease to 1/2 a pill per day, since my cholesterol is so very low (LDL 31, HDL 85, triglycerides 51, total 126). When I decreased the lipitor the numbers did not go up. I REALLY WONDER IF I SHOULD COMPLETELY STOP THE LIPITOR? What are your thoughts?
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