Artificial pancreas developed, twice as cool as your boring real one

We've never really found much use for our pancreas. It doesn't comes up in conversation, and tends to be a bit of a non-entity when it comes to our social life. Still, some people have a bit more trouble with their pancreai, and for those folks the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation is working on an artificial pancreas to do the job. It's based around existing technology for monitoring and moderating blood sugar levels, but "closes the loop," scratching out human error by feeding monitoring data, computer predictions and insulin injections into one system that doesn't require human intervention. To start out, the foundation plans on creating a product aimed at regulating blood-sugar overnight, and then from there move on to a 'round the clock device.

[Via Protein Feed]

[Shaun @ Aug 8th 2008 9:02PM]

I hope R&D like this continues! My wife has been diabetic since she was 13 (17 years total).

[Hexing @ Aug 9th 2008 4:45AM]

gotta get me one of these!

[Hexing @ Aug 9th 2008 5:14AM]

cool, but does it run Crysis?

[N3XuS @ Aug 9th 2008 5:43AM]

^ you're an idiot....

[Taylor @ Aug 9th 2008 8:50AM]

I'm not diabetic but I think THIS is the kind of stuff the government should put money into...
not billions of dollars into the space program.
This has much more practical use for the world.

[Amerist @ Aug 9th 2008 1:16PM]

@Taylor:

I wholeheartedly agree!

[manny75586 @ Aug 9th 2008 2:12PM]

@taylor: seeing as this is a private entity funding this, I would like the government to avoid getting their hands in it. They have never done a terribly good job of spurring innovation when they are involved unfortunately.

[iphone3g @ Aug 8th 2008 9:05PM]

Good for mr. jobs!

[zomg0t @ Aug 8th 2008 10:39PM]

This doesn't cure his cancer. Unless doctors completely remove his pancreas, this device isn't of much use to him, and considering they expect it to work only over night until later testing, it may still be a while before he uses one. I wonder, if you remove your pancreas will you have diabetes, or will you suffer much more irregular blood-sugar levels?

[Jumbie @ Aug 8th 2008 11:41PM]

Considering that the beta cells produce the insulin required to control your blood sugar, I'm gonna go out on a limb here and say that you'll be pretty much screwed.

Type I diabetics have had an autoimmune reaction that destroys said cells i.e. they require injectable insulin.

[Kris Quigley @ Aug 8th 2008 9:13PM]

"It doesn't comes up in conversation"

Aren't there any proof readers at engadget?

[Harold @ Aug 8th 2008 9:14PM]

This doesn't work. I've used that continuous glocuse monitor from Medtronic and it is terribly unreliable.

But that's not the real problem.

The real problem is that in the amount of time it takes this feedback loop to react you'd be dead.

If you eat a decent sized meal, say a 12 inch sub from Subway, you need to take maybe 12 units of insulin. Trouble is, 12 units of insulin would kill you if you had actually eaten nothing. Even 1 unit of insulin could cause you serious trouble if you didn't notice the signs of low blood sugar.

So, any closed loop feedback system like this much inject a very tiny amount of insulin when it sees your sugar go up, say, 1/10th of a unit.

The first problem is that insulin injecting into the fat cells under the skin takes a *long* time to absorb into the bloodstream: around 15-30 minutes. If you ate a 12 inch sub and the pump would only inject 0.1 units per 30 minutes, then you're talking 60 hours to inject the full 12 units. So three days later you'd finally have enough insulin for the meal you had. This is obviously not going to work. For those three days your sugar would be running at a level so high as to cause long-term (i.e. amputations) and possibly immediate short-term (i.e. coma) complications.

The second problem is that the monitoring device also reacts slowly (albeit, not three days slow) and is unreliable. I have had the device tell me my sugar was 400 when it was 40 and 40 when it was 400. If you're going to use that to make the decision to give me 12 units of insulin when it thinks I'm 400 but I'm really 40, it would kill me. 12 units would drop my sugar 360 points, so 40-360 = -320 = dead.

There is only one way to make this work and I wouldn't want it even if they had it: an implanted device that delivers insulin into the bloodstream (eliminating the delayed absorption) and that monitors glucose levels in the bloodstream (eliminating the delays in monitoring). Medtronic already has an implantable insulin pump that has a battery that lasts a couple years, but you have to fill it with a wicked needle that you poke through your skin and (I think) muscle to get to the reservoir. But they don't have an implantable glucose monitor for one good reason: glucose detection using today's devices requires a consumable reagent. With no way to replace the consumable you're out of luck.

I believe there is one way this gets fixed: implantable replacement islet cells. They do exactly what the companies are trying to develop without requiring a consumable reagent or wicked insulin refills or batteries to be recharged. Islet cells are great: they make insulin quickly in response to rising blood sugar levels and they do it from materials in your blood stream. Great invention of the body. The only trouble with this is that a type 1 diabetics immune system killed their islet cells, so these may have to be periodically re-implanted if a patient's immune system still has that killer instinct.

I'm not holding my breath. I'm just using a pump and a traditional glucose meter. It works great.

Harold

[Chris @ Aug 8th 2008 9:45PM]

please don't take this as an attack, its really not meant to be. But i'm gonna bet your not a medical scientist, and this article is not exactly exploding with details on the "how do they do it". Your absolutely right, given 'current' technology what their describing can't be done..but this is new, experimental, technology, it could be employing any number of brand new and unreleased methods of detecting and treating blood sugar levels. And if they are investing time and money into it, obviously there must have been some kind of breakthrough to make it feasible. In short, I really doubt they are going to release a product that accidentally kills you every so often, so when it does come to market, I'm sure there will be lots of people who would love to have a device that monitors their sugars for them and just lets them live a normal life

[simon @ Aug 8th 2008 11:22PM]

The caveats that you have described are probably some of the reasons why they are being prudent and looking more at a device to moderate nighttime blood glucose. I agree that to mimic the bolus insulin release that occurs in a normal individual would be difficult; rather this device seems more appropriate to mimic the normal basal secretion rate albeit with greater precision than can be achieved with twice daily imtermediate-acting insulin or once/twice daily lantus.

One other factor to keep in mind is the route of administration. You are correct that injecting insulin into subcutaneous tissue slows its absorption. If insulin is supplied directly to the bloodstream (e.g. what happens when it is administered via IV for instance when someone is admitted for DKA management) its onset is much quicker but its hal-life is measured in minutes.

All in all I (and all those who have a pancreas like mine) welcome the potential that these automated islet overlords are leading us to. This may not be the answer but it might be another step on the road.

[CaptSaltyJack @ Aug 9th 2008 1:42AM]

The developers of this artificial pancreas have read your post, and are slapping their foreheads in dumbfounded realization, I'll bet.

[Sean @ Aug 9th 2008 3:20AM]

True. My wife has the pump and she spent $1000 on the monitor (this stuff isn't covered by health insurance). It was horribly unreliable.. causing her blood sugar to randomly plummet. She still uses the pump, but now she manually checks her blood sugar several times a day. The pump gets a signal from the glucometer and adjusts the insulin feed accordingly.

[TrashBat @ Aug 9th 2008 2:12PM]

"If you eat a decent sized meal, say a 12 inch sub from Subway" - rofl

[Flashpoint @ Aug 8th 2008 9:15PM]

Congratulations.

I want to see medical technology pushed as far as it can go.

If we had Nanomuscle suits, we could give mobility to parapalegics.

[zomg0t @ Aug 9th 2008 12:09AM]

But would they be able to perform feats reminiscent of Crysis?

I'm so sorry, I just felt like someone had to do it! :'(

[George @ Aug 9th 2008 5:18AM]

z0mg: You mean, will they run like in Crysis?

[rod @ Aug 8th 2008 9:28PM]

This won't work.

I wish Engadget would stop posting pseudo-science articles like these.
I come to Engadget to hear gadget news, not medical news.
For biomedical and biological breakthroughs, I read journals, not Engadget.

[Deluxe @ Aug 8th 2008 10:16PM]

Are you sure you're at the right Engadget, and not the one in your head?

[giantenemycrab @ Aug 8th 2008 9:30PM]

Talk about a coincidence! Just yesterday, I was thinking "man, my life would be so much better with a artificial pancreas! I'm so sick of this one." I can't wait for this.

[Ted Kennedy @ Aug 8th 2008 10:00PM]

Call me when they create the bionic liver.

[Stiv @ Aug 8th 2008 10:03PM]

@Ted

+1

[LiNTEK @ Aug 8th 2008 10:06PM]

Lets hope that this will lead to more scientific breakthrough in medical technology.......

What about the stem cell technology?

[dajimmers @ Aug 8th 2008 10:07PM]

This is more of an artificial islet cell than an artificial pancreas. Your pancreas does many other things, like produce the enzymes that degrade your food, the glucagon that prevents your blood sugar from going too low, and the hormones that tell your stomach to make acid or not. Oh, and it gives you cancer, which I doubt this thing will do for you. Too bad.

[dukemang @ Aug 8th 2008 10:14PM]

Yeah, but my real pancreas can only BSOD once.

[Fubar @ Aug 8th 2008 10:20PM]

Blood Sugar Of Death?

[zomg0t @ Aug 8th 2008 11:11PM]

Must be Blood Sugar; this device probably wouldn't have a screen, considering there is no need for visual output.

[anticon @ Aug 9th 2008 12:17AM]

1) CGMS is still flawed at very best. if one must use an insulin pump, i'm far more excited at the Omnipod; the only pump maker really looking seriously at new and better delivery methods. ( http://www.myomnipod.com )

2) nitpicking, i know..but the plural of pancreas is not pancreai. It's pancreata.

[Gorlock @ Aug 9th 2008 4:18AM]

+1 for OmniPod!
I have one of those and it is amazing. It is the only wireless insulin pump currently on the market. I hear they are making a better one too!

[Larry T @ Aug 9th 2008 1:00AM]

I'm a diabetic and have recently talked with a mini med specialist last week at a local seminar, the next step will be to take the pump and have the sensor built into each canula, this is happening in 1 yr. In two years the patch pump will come into play. It will be a patch (like a nicotine patch) controlled by a device similar to an iphone which will control the patch's release of insulin, WITH NO WIRES OR TUBING!

Pretty cool stuff, and it's around the corner!

[steve @ Aug 15th 2008 5:59PM]

Plural for pancreas is "pancreases" not "pancreai".

[David @ Aug 9th 2008 10:27AM]

Totally!

Paul Miller, clearly you've never taken Latin, so don't even try. Besides, this is a Greek word. You aren't showing how clever you are; you're showing how ignorant you are.

BTW, for next time, Pancreas plural would be "Pancreases" or "Pancreata"

[Brennan @ Aug 9th 2008 11:12AM]

Those of you who are complaining about the pump sensor make me laugh, because the sensor was never meant to do any of that stuff. No, you can not use it to accurately measure your BG, and no, it is not a replacement for regular BG checks. It is only meant as a feedback device to show you trends in your blood sugar, not give you exact readings, and I believe the main purpose it serves is to keep you from going hypoglycemic in the night. Now, I never have problems with going low in the night because I have really strong dawn phenomenon, so when I got my pump I opted not to use the sensor. Just because the technology is here doesn't mean it is ready without flaws, and I think the purpose of the artificial pancreas pump is to research how they can make the technology more effective. To the guy who talked about all the different ways it could kill you, you have to realize how much quality control goes into the design and manufacture of insulin pumps. This isn't your LCD tv or laptop, these things have to pass extremely rigorous tests before you will be allowed to use them, and when you do get one you have to work with your doctor until you get to a point where you can manage your blood sugar effectively.

[phrank @ Aug 9th 2008 12:59PM]

When you have a bionic liver, do you move in really slow motion with that "ch-ch-ch-ch-ch" sound when you're chugging jaeger, or when you're pissing it out later? OR BOTH?!

[Mary @ Aug 9th 2008 1:27PM]

The only way to approach controlling diabetes better than anything that is presently being used is islet cells replacement therapy. Dr. Faustman at Mass General Hospital in Boston research is VERY PROMISING google her name I think it is Dr. Linda Faustman or google Mass General Hospital for more information.

[MARSHAK @ Aug 9th 2008 5:00PM]

iPhone.

[yankeeman10 @ Aug 9th 2008 11:51PM]

the problem with this is there havent been enough studies done proving that this actually benefits, which it actually does. without these studies saying it makes my life easier or helps me stay healthy insurance agencies deny funding for such new technologies and we get stuck out of the loop trying to survive on old technology. If i had lots more money i could use this but it costs about 1000 for the start up kit and replacements every three weeks... so if someone wants to help me out there its greatly appreciated til then im stuck with my outdated life line...,

Dr. Faustman's work in Massachusetts is amazing, she essentially has developed a way toc ure diabetes in mice... the problem is there needs to be stem clells present and in type I diabetics who have been diagnosed for 3 years, there are basically none left to be utilized in the rebuilding of the pancreatic insulin cells so fudning has to be utilized for stem cell research above anything else....

[AmyT @ Aug 10th 2008 4:08AM]

Yup. With a little research you would know that the experts are still pretty far away from creating a viable "closed loop." The Medtronic product you show is an early, part-version that still has some issues.

But let's cross our fingers, shall we? (those fingers pocked from all the #$%@ blood glucose tests)

[lynn crowder @ Aug 10th 2008 8:27PM]

i've been on the podd from insulet for about 6 months and i love it.it delivers the insulin my dr. set it up to and i put in the meal bolus.my average went from 377 to 112 in a couple months..

[macserv @ Aug 10th 2008 9:30PM]

Yeah, I won't be giving up my real one anytime soon. Thanks.

[BPM [MSN: BPMdotEXE @ hotmail.com] @ Aug 11th 2008 5:10AM]

♪I'm always thinkin' 'bout it
I don't know what I'd do without it
I love, I really love
My pancreas

My spleen just doesn't matter
Don't really care about my bladder
But I don't leave home without
My pancreas♪♪

[chuichi @ Nov 6th 2008 3:54PM]

To Harold
That's NOT how blood glucose control algorithms work. You are using layman's common sense. But mathematical
algorithms can do much more than than. I studied Control Engineering (Undergraduate level, though) and
next year I will to go to graduate school and do research on blood glucose control algorithms.
(by the way, I have type 1 Diabetes, too)