Innovations in the medical world in treating type 1 diabetes are on the rise. Currently, a trial runs to use artificial pancreas in treating type 1 diabetes.
Can this technology bring people with type 1 diabetes to a better life expectancy?
Currently, treatment for type 1 diabetes is very effective. At the same time, however, the treatment for type 1 diabetes is relatively complicated, starting with routine dialysis, blood sugar checking and injecting insulin.
Researchers are experimenting to use this artificial pancreas for people with type 1 diabetes so as not to complicate longer run procedures that exist today.
In fact, the idea of this artificial pancreas has been discussed for decades. However, only recently can technology support to realize this idea.
Designed by Boris Kovatchev and colleagues at the University of Virginia School of Medicine, artificial pancreas has a high potential to change the lives of people with type 1 diabetes in a better direction.
Kovatchev has started working with this technology since 2006. At first, many people are skeptical about the success of this tool. But in fact, at this time, this tool has entered the stage of direct experiment in humans. Hopefully, in the near future, this tool can be applied to all people with type 1 diabetes.
What is type 1 diabetes?
Your pancreas produces a hormone called insulin. This insulin hormone serves to facilitate the absorption of sugar from the blood to the body that requires it. In people with type 1 diabetes, the pancreas stops producing enough insulin to balance your blood sugar.
In contrast to type 2 diabetes, type 1 diabetes is not caused by lifestyle at all. Type 1 diabetes occurs due to an attack on beta cells in the pancreas that the immune system can not resist. As a result, the pancreas can not produce insulin in accordance with the body you need.
Currently to treat type 1 diabetes, usually the patient should routinely undergo a blood sugar test and inject his body with insulin to balance the amount of insulin needed. Since this is done manually by humans, there could be errors. If the error occurs and the patient's blood sugar rises, then the lapse of time can damage the kidneys, nerves, eyes, and blood vessels. On the other hand, low blood sugar, in extreme circumstances, can lead to coma or death.
How does an artificial pancreas work?
The pancreas made by Kovatchev is commonly referred to as closed-loop control of blood sugar in diabetics. Which means, Kovatchev trying to create a tool that can control human blood sugar without human intervention, aka rely on working machines.
The center of this system uses a platform called InControl. This platform works on a modified device from a smartphone. This device is connected wirelessly to the blood sugar monitor, a device that works to pump insulin and remote monitor. This blood sugar monitor observes blood sugar levels every 5 minutes and sends the results to the InControl tool.
All of these tools are controlled by the algorithm and get the exact information about insulin needed by the patient through a small needle, where the patient will not even bleed a drop.
This algorithm is the key to this innovation. The algorithm is designed to find out information about how much insulin the patient needs per second. Not enough for a technology to know just how much blood sugar levels in certain times only. The technology should be able to predict blood sugar levels at any time and adapt to the sensitivity of insulin in each individual patient.
The pancreas on the human body itself does naturally have a "count" of blood sugar and insulin needed. However, to create a design that can be similar to how the pancreas works is really difficult.
Kovatchev explained to Medical News Today that the algorithm made on this tool is based on a model of the human metabolic system, which uses data from current sugar levels, previously made insulin, and if possible, signals to recognize patterns of blood sugar fluctuations and predict where sugar blood from the sufferer will be taken. Later the algorithm will be designed to give the patient insulin in accordance with the prediction of blood sugar levels. The most important concern of making this tool is a security problem for the use of this tool.