Working towards an artificial pancreas
I got an email today from the JDRF (Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation). They announced a partnership with an insulin pump manufacturer to develop an “automated system for managing type 1 diabetes.”
Right now, there are devices to automate portions of the management of diabetes. There are insulin pumps which automate insulin delivery and there are a wide variety of test meters and CGMs (continuous glucose monitors) which automate the process of measuring blood sugar levels, but there’s always a person in the middle bringing these pieces together. That is, manual intervention by the person provides the ability of the insulin pump to respond to the measurements of glucose levels in the blood stream.
The JDRF, with their Artificial Pancreas Project, hopes to work with doctors, researchers, and industry and eventually produce a system which fully automates the delivery of insulin based on real-time measurements of blood sugar levels in people with type 1 diabetes. The goal of this partnership, however, is to produce a first-generation system will “partially” automate this process. And, rather than a single device, it will be an insulin pump coupled with a CGM and some sophisticated software. The software will provide the management of insulin delivery based on blood sugar levels. This is three-year project and they want to produce a first-generation system which is “ready for regulatory review in four years or so.”
Here’s a link to the press release:
The JDRF’s Artificial Pancreas Project has been around since about 2006. According to the press release, the “FDA has designated an artificial pancreas as one of its ‘critical path’ initiatives.” Let’s hope others jump on board and get this idea moving. Meanwhile, I’ll be standing in this line over here. I.e., the one with all the people who have been waiting years, even decades, for this.
