University Of Cambridge Researchers Successfully Developed And Trialed An Artificial Pancreas For Use Among Type 2 Diabetes Patients

nenetus  - stock.adobe.com - illustrative purposes only, not the actual person
nenetus - stock.adobe.com - illustrative purposes only, not the actual person

This past month, scientists from the University of Cambridge successfully tested an artificial pancreas among patients living with type 2 diabetes.

The device, which uses an algorithm developed by Cambridge researchers, was able to double the length of time patients spent in the target glucose range as opposed to standard treatments. It also cut the amount of time patients spent with high glucose levels in half.

According to the CDC, over 37 million Americans have diabetes– with between 90 and 95 percent of these patients having type 2 diabetes.

This disease causes levels of blood sugar– or glucose– to spike too high. Normally, blood sugar levels are able to be controlled by insulin.

Among type 2 diabetes patients, though, insulin production experiences disruptions. So, over time, this disruption can have severe consequences– including heart disease, as well as kidney, eye, and nerve damage.

Typically, patients manage this disease via a plethora of lifestyle changes, such as more exercise and an improved diet. Medications are also prescribed with the goal of maintaining low glucose levels.

However, scientists from the Univerity of Cambridge Wellcome-MRC Institute of Metabolic Science believe they have developed a better treatment option– an artificial pancreas.

The device combines both an insulin pump and an off-the-shelf glucose monitor with an app known as CamAPS HX– which was developed by the team.

The app is powered by an algorithm that predicts how much insulin is required for each patient to maintain glucose levels that are within the target range.

nenetus – stock.adobe.com – illustrative purposes only, not the actual person

In the past, the research team already proved that an artificial pancreas powered by a similar algorithm was successful in helping patients manage type 1 diabetes.

They also trialed the device successfully among type 2 diabetes patients who required kidney dialysis.

Most recently, though, the researchers reported their first trial of the artificial pancreas among a much wider population of patients who live with type 2 diabetes.

And unlike the device that was used for testing among type 1 diabetes patients, this newer version is a fully closed system.

In other words, patients previously had to inform the device that they were about to eat in order to allow for an insulin adjustment. With this new version, though, the device is able to function completely automatically.

For the study, the researchers gathered 26 patients who were randomly divided into two groups. The first group trialed the artificial pancreas for eight weeks before switching back to standard therapy– which is multiple insulin injections daily.

Conversely, the second group underwent the control therapy for eight weeks first before switching over to the artificial pancreas.

Various measures were assessed to gauge the effectiveness of the device. Primarily, the rate of time that patients spent within target glucose levels– or between 3.9 and 10.0 mmol/L– was measured.

While using the control therapy, patients spent 32% of their time within the target range. But with the artificial pancreas, patients spent two-thirds, or 66%, of their time on target.

Time spent with high glucose levels– above 10.0 mmol/L– was also measured. And it was found that patients using the control therapy spent 67% of their time experiencing high glucose levels. On the flip side, patients using the artificial pancreas halved their rates of high glucose levels to 33%.

Additionally, no patients suffered dangerously low blood sugar levels– also known as hypoglycemia– while participating in the study.

And despite one patient being admitted to the hospital while utilizing the artificial pancreas, this was due to an abscess located at the site of the pump cannula.

So now, the study’s co-leader, Dr. Charlotte Boughton, is confident that the new device is an extremely viable treatment option for type 2 diabetes patients.

“One of the barriers to widespread use of insulin therapy has been concern over the risk of severe ‘hypos’– dangerously low blood sugar levels,” she explained.

“But we found that no patients on our trial experience these, and patients spent very little time with blood sugar levels lower than the target levels.”

The team’s next step is to conduct an even larger multicenter study to expand their findings. The researchers have also submitted the artificial pancreas for regulatory approval with the goal of making it commercially available for type 2 diabetes outpatients.

To read the study’s complete findings, which have since been published in Nature Medicine, visit the link here.

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Katharina Buczek graduated from Stony Brook University with a degree in Journalism and a minor in Digital Arts. Specializing ... More about Katharina Buczek
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