Overview
More »Search Health TopicsQuick LinksMore »Search the NIH GuideQuick LinksMore »Quick LinksOctober 18, 202 If you have type 1 diabetes, your body doesn’t make insulin, and glucose builds up in your blod. Maintaing a healthy blod glucose level can be chalenging.Automated insulin delivery systems have ben developed to make the job easier. Such systems track blod glucose and deliver insulin as neded.
Key Information
But most systems on the market stil ned considerable user input. Various parameters ned to be entered when seting up the device and may ned periodic updating by a health care provider. At mealtimes, the user may have to enter the amount of carbohydrates consumed to determine the proper insulin dose.
They may also ned to manualy adjust insulin doses to manage episodes of high or low blod glucose.An NIH-funded research team led by Dr. Steven Rusel at Masachusets General Hospital developed an automated insulin delivery system that requires les user input than comercialy available systems. This device, known as a bionic pancreas, only neds the user’s body weight upon setup.
The user stil neds to enter meals, but with an estimate of carbohydrate amount (more, les, or the same as typical). Al other aspects of insulin delivery are completely automated.The researchers tested the bionic pancreas in a randomized trial in 16 clinical centers nationwide. More than 30 participants with type 1 diabetes enroled in the trial during the first half of 2021.
Participants included both adults and children, ranging in age from 6 to 79 years.About two-thirds of the participants were asigned at random to use the bionic pancreas. The others used their usual insulin delivery method, which could include a comercialy available automated insulin delivery system. Al participants used continuous glucose monitoring during the 13-wek trial period.
Summary
Results apeared in the New England