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Diabetes Patients are Hacking Their Way Toward a Bionic Pancreas

You probably don’t think much about your pancreas, so long as it’s working properly. Tucked close beside your small intestine, the ugly, yellowish blob secretes digestive enzymes and squirts out hormones, insulin among them. Insulin tells your cells to open their big fat mouths already and slurp glucose out of your bloodstream to use for energy. No insulin, and the cells stay snapped shut. That’s what happens in type 1 diabetes, when the immune system wakes up one day and decides to kill the insulin-producing cells.

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 Bionic Pancreas for Type 1 Diabetes Found Feasible to Implement in Primary Care

Adults with type 1 diabetes (T1D) who started treatment with a bionic pancreas at a primary care site experienced similar glycemic benefits as those initiating the device through an endocrinologist, according to a study published in Clinical Diabetes.

Articles of Interest

The iLet Bionic Pancreas

The iLet Bionic Pancreas System is indicated for use by people with type 1 diabetes 6 years of age and older.

Bionic Pancreas

The Bionic Pancreas Team is a collaborative group from Boston University and Massachusetts General Hospital working together to make automated blood glucose control a reality. The goal of the Bionic Pancreas Project is to reduce the impact of diabetes on those who have to live with it until a cure is found. To accomplish this, our team of engineers at Boston University are developing a Bionic Pancreas to automatically make decisions about insulin and glucagon dosing every five minutes. That’s 288 decisions per day, 7 days per week, 365 days per year.

A bionic pancreas aims to take the math out of managing type 1 diabetes

In the last several years, automated insulin delivery has helped many patients with type 1 diabetes avoid harmful dips and surges in their blood sugar. Sometimes called an ‘artificial pancreas,’ the systems, aided by a glucose sensor, algorithmically determine insulin doses that are delivered continuously through a pump. But the systems aren’t perfectly autonomous: Users still have to manually input the carb counts of their meals before eating, so the system can deliver the right dose of medication.

Bionic Pancreas Handles Ice Cream Sundaes, French Fries

Like a natural pancreas, Damiano’s device automatically monitors wearers’ insulin levels. When needed, it administers doses of insulin and glucagon, two hormones that healthy pancreases make to regulate people’s blood sugar levels. In other words, the bionic pancreas does automatically what type 1 diabetes patients have to do manually, far more frequently than any person could—every five minutes, 24 hours a day. The device is about the size of a cellphone and people wear it on the outside of their bodies.

Bionic Pancreas Shown to Manage Blood-Sugar Levels for Type 1 Diabetics

Automated iLet device from Beta Bionics manages blood-sugar levels with less user input.

Bionic pancreas simplifies management of type 1 diabetes

“Our observation that this system can safely improve glucose control to the degree we found, and do so despite requiring much less input from users and their health care providers, has important implications for children and adults living with diabetes,” Russell says. The bionic pancreas could make day-to-day management of type 1 diabetes easier, leading to better quality of life. “While we continue to search for a cure for type 1 diabetes, devices like the bionic pancreas can allow people to worry less about their blood-glucose levels and focus more on living their fullest, healthiest lives,” says NIDDK Director Dr. Griffin Rogers.

Building a better ‘bionic pancreas’

In the not-so-distant future of Casey Fiesler’s imagination, the complex and burdensome task of managing Type 1 diabetes will be easier. Instead of counting carbs, doing math and fiddling with her pump multiple times per day, she could essentially set it and forget it, only occasionally receiving nudges via her phone to take action.

Father Devises A 'Bionic Pancreas' To Help Son With Diabetes

"The bionic pancreas is a device that automatically takes care of your blood sugars 24/7," Damiano says. "It's a device that comes to know you."

Scientists Made a Bionic Pancreas That Runs Off an iPhone

Scientists at Massachusetts General Hospital and Boston University have made major progress on a bionic pancreas for those living with diabetes.

“Bionic pancreas” improves blood sugar control in Type 1 diabetics

The researchers say these results suggest this new technology could significantly improve blood sugar control among those with Type 1 diabetes, helping them avoid complications frequently associated with this disease, including heart attack, stroke, nerve damage, and blindness.

Resources

Beta Bionics

The iLet Bionic Pancreas automatically adjusts to your insulin needs so you don’t have to.

Beta Bionics

The iLet Bionic Pancreas is an insulin delivery system that reduces the need to make decisions about your diabetes management – because it makes the decisions for you. Using data from your Dexcom CGM or FreeStyle Libre 3 Plus sensor, the iLet continuously learns your insulin needs and makes 100% of insulin doses. No carb counting* or corrections required!