Imagine an artificial pancreas that can help type 1 diabetics live longer, more active lives. Well, that’s exactly what the researchers at Medtronic are developing.
The peer-review research in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) shows participants in the in-home study showed no dangerous drops or spikes in in blood sugar levels.
The technology may be especially compelling to parents of children with Type 1 diabetes, who are obliged to wake up in the middle of the night to check their children’s blood sugar levels.
Beth Olson, research program manager of the International Diabetes Center (IDC) in St. Louis Park., Minnesota where the IDC led a trial investigation into the hybrid closed loop technology described the device as a real game changer
The innovative system consists of a continuous glucose monitor that is adhered to the skin, and a smart insulin pump that feeds insulin through a small skin tube. The pump has a unique algorithm that learns from the blood sugar readings received from the glucose monitor. The pump then determines if blood sugar levels are rising or falling and automatically adjusts the insulin feed to ensure a near constant blood sugar level in the body. Patients must still test their blood sugar before they eat and program the device with how many carbohydrates they are consuming.
Participant, John Caldwell said that the technology helped lower his long-term blood sugar level, or A1C, from an average of 7.5 to 8 down to 6.5.
“It’s really smoothed out my control in a way that I could just never do before,” Caldwell noted. “I’m spending a lot less time worrying about it and managing it. I can just look at the pump and see what my blood sugar is at any time, and it pretty much takes care of the ongoing controlling of it.”
The technology may be especially compelling to parents of children with Type 1 diabetes, who are obliged to wake up in the middle of the night to check their children’s blood sugar levels. The IDC study showed no episodes of severe hypoglycemia in patients.
“The data is compelling and shows that the system’s ability to automate insulin dosing 24 hours a day has the potential to impact patients’ lives in a very meaningful way, particularly at night when it’s most challenging to maintain target blood glucose levels,” said Dr. Richard Bergenstal, lead researcher concluded.
While the trial does verify the safety of the Medtronic system, it has not yet been FDA approved. But Medtronic did submit a Pre-Market Application on the hybrid closed loop system to the FDA in June.
