People living with type 2 diabetes can rejoice. Scientists have successfully trialed a man-made pancreas that maintains healthy glucose levels within the body and applied for regulatory approval of their device to make it commercially available available in the market.
The device works on an algorithm developed by the University of Cambridge researchers. It was capable of double the time during which the glucose levels remained within the goal range and likewise slashed the time during which the glucose levels were high by half, in line with the study published within the journal Nature Medicine.
Type 2 diabetes is a disorder during which the degrees of glucose or blood sugar turn out to be very high. It’s the job of insulin to manage blood sugar levels within the body, but in individuals with type 2 diabetes, insulin production becomes uneven. The resulting increased glucose levels may cause problems including eye, kidney and nerve damage, and heart disease in the long term.
Generally, the disease is managed through lifestyle changes, comparable to improved weight-reduction plan and more exercise, and medicine.
Researchers from the Wellcome-MRC Institute of Metabolic Science on the University of Cambridge created the device that consists of an extraordinary glucose monitor and insulin pump connected to an app developed by the team, often called CamAPS HX. This app predicts the quantity of insulin that can be required to keep up glucose levels within the goal range. The device functions mechanically involving little interference from the patients.
“Many individuals with type 2 diabetes struggle to administer their blood sugar levels using the currently available treatments, comparable to insulin injections. The artificial pancreas can provide a protected and effective approach to assist them, and the technology is easy to make use of and could be implemented safely at home,” Dr. Charlotte who co-led the study, said, reported MedicalXpress.
For the study, 26 patients were recruited from the Wolfson Diabetes and Endocrine Clinic at Addenbrooke’s Hospital. Patients were divided into two groups. The primary group used the substitute pancreas for eight weeks, after which switched to the usual therapy of multiple every day insulin injections, while the second control group did the whole reverse.
Following evaluation, it was found that on average, patients using the substitute pancreas spent 66% of their time inside the goal range in comparison with 32% of the time for the patients within the control group. Also, patients within the control group spent 67% of their time with high glucose levels, which was reduced to half at 33% for the patients using the substitute pancreas. Feedback from the patients also found that 89% of the participants felt they spent less time managing their diabetes.
“One among the barriers to widespread use of insulin therapy has been concern over the chance of severe ‘hypos’—dangerously low blood sugar levels. But we found that no patients on our trial experienced these and patients spent little or no time with blood sugar levels lower than the goal levels,” Dr. Aideen Daly from the Wellcome-MRC Institute of Metabolic Science, said, as per the outlet.