- SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters
Health)
- An "artificial pancreas" designed to deliver the key blood
sugar-regulating hormone insulin to diabetic patients without the need
for injections has been found safe and effective in a preliminary study
with 10 patients, an international research team reports.
-
- The device delivers insulin into the bloodstream when
a sensor detects rising blood sugar levels. Normally, the pancreas produces
insulin, but in people with type 1 diabetes the organ can't produce the
hormone. These patients must give themselves frequent insulin injections
to keep their blood sugar levels under control.
-
- Dr. Eric Renard and colleagues at Lapeyronie Hospital
in Montpelier, France, working with investigators at Medtronic MiniMed
of Northridge, California, tested the long-term sensor system in type 1
diabetes patients with relatively stable disease. The first patient
received
the device in April 2001, and the study lasted 6 months.
-
- Renard presented the findings here Monday at the American
Diabetes Association's annual meeting.
-
- He described the device as an insulin reservoir,
implanted
in the tissue lining the abdominal cavity and connected to a sensor
implanted
in the jugular vein. The reservoir requires insulin refills every month
or so, he said. When the sensor detects an increase in blood glucose, the
reservoir delivers the required amount of insulin.
-
- Renard reported that blood glucose levels were controlled
more than 60% of the time in the study group, compared with 25% of the
time for the average patient using injectable insulin. This was a result
of the accuracy of the sensor, he said.
-
- The most difficult time for type 1 diabetes patients
to keep their blood sugar levels stable with insulin injections is after
a meal, Renard noted in an interview with Reuters Health.
-
- The sensor is able to keep a read on glucose levels by
taking measurements as many as 288 times during a 24-hour period. The
so-called
artificial pancreas is "working very well" over time, Renard
said.
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