A Device Acting as a Bionic Pancreas to Treat Diabetes

Imagine having Type 1 diabetes, and living with the disease, without worrying about your blood-sugar level.  This could now be possible thanks to a new, bionic pancreas.

Type 1 diabetes is an illness treatable through insulin injections and self-administered blood-sugar tests that are performed several times per day. However, controlling the amount of sugar in the blood can be tricky.  For example, catching a flu can drastically change the need for insulin for days. Now, an app controlling both the results of the blood testing machine and the functioning of two pumps is able to mimic pancreatic activity. The bionic pancreas, developed and tested at the Massachusetts General Hospital by Dr. Russell and Dr. Damiano, will be able to adapt to the changing needs of the body on a minute-by-minute basis, and will minimize the amount of worry and hassle patients experience testing and adjusting their sugar level.

To act as an artificial pancreas, a sensor in the device measures the glucose level in the blood every five minutes. The sensor, implanted in the body, then transmits the information to the app, which analyzes it by taking into account the weight of the patient. The result of the analysis is used to control two implanted pumps by either injecting insulin to lower glycaemia, or injecting glucagon to raise it.

Tests were conducted this summer over a five day period on a group of adults.  Adults were tested performing a range of activities from exercising at the gym, to having a gourmet dinner in a restaurant.  Additionally, a second group of teenagers participating at a youth camp were also tested. The results were extremely promising, showing both a reduction of the blood glucose, and of the time spent with low blood sugar.

Dr. Damiano, whose own teenage son has type 1 diabetes, commented, “The most practical difference would be not having to think about diabetes 24/7, not having to constantly make decisions about things that those of us without type 1 never have to think about.  And another extremely frustrating aspect of diabetes that would be completely eliminated by this device is the enormous sense of failure when you stare at that glucose meter and, despite everything you do to control it, your blood sugar is not in or near the normal range. But of course you didn’t fail; the tools that are available to you failed.  The bionic pancreas we are working toward would relieve that sense of failure and provide a bridge to the often-promised but still elusive cure for type 1 diabetes.”