BEIJING, Feb. 8 (Xinhuanet) -- Researchers at the University of Cambridge have developed an artificial pancreas device that can improve overnight blood sugar control, which brings new hope for type 1 diabetes patients, media reported Monday.
One problem that many type 1 diabetes sufferers face is not knowing exactly how much insulin to give themselves. If they use too much insulin, their blood sugar can drop very quickly, leading to hypoglycemia.
The artificial pancreas is a matchbox-sized monitor and a similar sized pump with a tube to deliver the insulin to the body. The device can calculate the appropriate amount of insulin to deliver based on real time blood sugar readings.
Researchers said the study patients, aged 5 to 18, spent twice as much time during the night at targeted glucose levels when they used the device, compared to the manual approach.
The Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation's chief executive who funded the trial, Karen Addington said "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," adding that the principle benefits of artificial pancreas’s had been proved.
(Agencies)
