Artificial, Fully Functional, Implantable Pancreas in the Works for Diabetics

Freedom for Diabetics: Science Creates Working Artificial Pancreas

by Monica Joshi

Type 1 diabetes was once known as juvenile diabetes or insulin-dependent diabetes. It is a chronic condition in which the pancreas produces little or no insulin, a hormone needed to allow sugar (glucose) to enter cells to produce energy. While the far more common condition is Type 2 diabetes, Type 1 is still debilitating. For all those living with Type 1 diabetes, wouldn't it just be great if you could ditch your pancreas and get a whole new organ? Scientists are working on just that option.

With type 1 diabetes, the body’s immune system attacks cells in the pancreas that produce the glucose-lowering hormone insulin. And, without insulin to convert sugar into energy for cells, glucose levels build up in the bloodstream. This means for diabetes patients that they have to be constantly tracking blood sugar levels and taking daily doses of insulin.

A team of University of California Santa Barbara researchers led by Francis Doyle has designed a method that makes monitoring glucose and delivering insulin automatic. Free of needles, most importantly! The researchers have been working on a fully implantable artificial pancreas that continuously measures a patient’s glucose level and delivers appropriate amounts of insulin as needed. The work, published in Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research last month, informs that they’re getting ready to test the design in animals.

Sugar levels that are too high result in hyperglycemia. Over a long period of time, hyperglycemia can lead to serious eye diseases and heart and kidney problems. To make up for the loss of insulin produced by the body, patients typically rely on daily injections or insulin pump therapy. But both methods still require calculating the proper dose, and there’s also a time lag between when insulin is needed and when it actually starts taking effect.

The new research makes use of an algorithm that senses blood sugar levels, then calculates the dosage and quickly delivers it from the implant. In previous trials for the algorithm, participants used a tablet to monitor and maintain glucose levels. In the current design, a chip allows the algorithm to run an artificial pancreas without the tablet so that it is all fluidly automated.

According to their research, computer tests that simulated the rise and fall of glucose with meals and long periods of sleep, their artificial pancreas was able to keep blood sugar levels within the proper range 78 percent of the time.

Their next step is to test their design in animals to evaluate its in vivo performance. In addition, the researchers are working on a separate version of the artificial pancreas: the kid's version.

Another, potential research step could be to make an artificial pancreas just for those who are past retirement. Specifically because, just like kids, they too have very unique needs — while one is an unpredictable, young machine, the other is an ancient one.