Artificial Pancreas That Will Make Daily Insulin Shots History On the Anvil

Mayo Clinic endocrinologists Yogish Kudva, M.B.B.S., and Ananda Basu, M.B.B.S., M.D., have developed an artificial pancreas that will deliver insulin automatically and with an individualized precision. The development will relieve diabetic patients of painful finger pricks and daily insulin dosing. The "Closed Loop System" under development includes a blood sugar monitor, an automatic insulin pump, a set of activity monitors that attach to the body and a central processing unit.

Clinical trials of the artificial pancreases are likely to begin in November with a handful of inpatient volunteers.

Study participants will follow strict diet, exercise and insulin-delivery regimens in Mayo's Clinical Research Unit.

Data will then be fed into an insulin-delivery algorithm, which mimics the body's natural process of monitoring and responding to glucose levels in the bloodstream.

"Physical activity enhances insulin action, hence lowering blood glucose concentration," Kudva said.

"Real-time detection of physical activity, and modelling of its effect on glucose dynamics, is vital to design an automatic insulin delivery system," he stated.

Source-ANI