Articial organ hope for diabetes

Friday February 5th, 2010

Children with diabetes may eventually be given artificial organs to manage their insulin, researchers reported today.

Scientists at Cambridge University, UK, have branded their invention an "artificial pancreas system" - although it represents an adaptation of existing devices.

They have adapted existing devices to create a single replacement for the pancreas.

The pancreas is the organ responsible for delivering insulin and controlling levels of blood sugar - but when children are born with diabetes it does not work properly.

Writing in The Lancet, researchers say they have shown that the artificial pancreas system can successfully be used to treat children.

The system takes an insulin pump and a continuous glucose monitor and combines them, using sophisticated computer calculations to adjust insulin levels based on glucose readings.

Its inventors say it will remove the need for children to have daily finger prick tests and injections of insulin - and should offer improved control of glucose levels overnight.

Karen Addington, chief executive of the Juvenile Diabetes Research Fund, said: "This study is proof of principle that type 1 diabetes in children can be safely managed overnight with an artificial pancreas system.

"We need to redouble our efforts to move the artificial pancreas from a concept in the clinic to a reality in the home of children and adults with type 1 diabetes."

Researcher Dr Roman Hovorka said: "Our results show that commercially-available devices, when coupled with the algorithm we developed, can improve glucose control in children and significantly reduce the risk of hypos overnight."

For the testing of the devices, some 17 children and teenagers spent 54 nights in hospital. On some nights they were given a large evening meal or encouraged to take exercise in the early evening.

The children were already using implanted insulin infusion pumps - but the study showed the artificial pancreas worked better, ensuring that blood glucose was at normal levels for 60 per cent of the time.

Roman Hovorka et al, 'Closed-loop insulin delivery in children and adolescents with type 1 diabetes' The Lancet February 5 2010

Tags: Child Health | Diabetes | UK News

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