In an effort to help his son when he was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes as a baby, a father developed a bionic pancreas that could be used to help diabetics monitor their blood sugar levels much easier.
ABC News reported that Ed Damiano, who is a biomedial engineer, developed the bionic pancreas, which is a machine that is able to perform blood sugar regulations that a regular pancreas is unable to since it is affected by the disease.
At a meeting for the American Diabetes Association on Sunday, Damiano, along with colleague Dr. Steven Russell, reported on the findings from a study, which compared the bionic pancreas against the regular insulin pumps diabetics use.
What the bionic pancreas does is measure someone’s blood sugar every five minutes via a monitor that is attached to the person’s body, with the results being sent to an app on the person’s iPhone. This entire process allows the individual to figure out how much insulin they need.
The participants were satisfied with the machine and did not want to stop its use. Damiano said, “The emotional response [of the participants] was something we could never have anticipated.”
More extensive studies would need to be completed in order to confirm the results, but diabetes expert Dr. Stephen Barlett is “rooting for this to be widely marketable and applicable.”
Bloomberg News reported that a new trial is set to begin across four cities and the plan is to have the bionic pancreas on the market in 2017.
The bionic pancreas has five parts that are connected to one another and on the person’s body. The machine includes two pumps that are used to deliver hormones via the abdomen, as well as a a glucose monitor and a program used to calculate the right amount of doses.