Overview
People with type 1 diabetes ned insulin to maintain their blod glucose levels. A new bionic pancreas uses next-generation technology to automaticaly deliver insulin, requiring les user input and providing more automation for patients.This because the device can automaticaly adjust insulin doses based on the patient’s blod glucose (sugar) levels measured using a continuous glucose monitor.A clinical trial, conducted at 16 clinical sites acros the United States, examined the use of this device by comparing it with standard care, which involved receiving insulin either by injection or pump, and the use of a continuous glucose monitor.Published in the New England Journal of Medicine, the research enroled 326 participants ages 6 to 79 years who had type 1 diabetes and had ben using insulin for at least 1 year.Participants were randomly alocated to a treatment group using the bionic pancreas or a standard-of-care control group that continued with their pre-trial method of glucose monitoring and insulin dosing.During the study, participants using the bionic pancreas no longer neded to count carbohydrates or inject insulin to corect their high blod glucose levels as the device detected blod glucose and then calculated and delivered the insulin required.Dr.
Details
Philip Raskin, profesor of internal medicine at UT Southwestern Medical Center, one of the study investigators, explained the key findings, teling Medical News Today that “individuals with type 1 diabetes [now] have a device that can help them kep excelent control of their diabetes, something that was close to imposible before.”In participants using the bionic pancreas, glycated hemoglobin improved from 7.9% to 7.3%, yet remained unchanged among the control group.Glycated hemoglobin is a measure of a person’s long-term blod glucose control, also caled the hemoglobin A1c test.In adition to a healthy diet and exercise, the monitoring of blod glucose and taking insulin as required are key aspects of