“I am currently four days out from the end of the artificial pancreas trial.  The experience was both fantastic and a bit overwhelming at times.  It was a very strange feeling to put my trust in a computer after 24 years but by the last time I used the system, I was relaxed and confident in the system.  It was fantastic to not worry about my blood sugars one bit.  It was very bittersweet to hand the system over.  I was giving back something that made my blood sugar numbers better than they have been in 24 years but I also knew I was heading on a plane home to my family.

So what does the future hold for the technology?  This particular technology has a lot of different pieces and parts, many different algorithms.  The University is licensing different portions of the system to for profit companies.  For example, the bigwigs at Animas were at the study house on Wednesday and they are planning on doing a pretty large study over the next year on their Hypo Hyper Minimizer system (lot of info on the internet about the system).  Animas uses the algorithms developed by the University of Virginia in its products.

The University is also working with a local start up company that is looking at marketing the whole system that the University developed.  However, the FDA is always in the background and the FDA’s biggest concern is safety.  The FDA has no problem with systems like the Medtronic 530G because the worst that happens is someone’s blood sugar goes high.  The FDA is more careful when it comes to systems that will give insulin to lower blood sugars.  The FDA really wants to see more accurate sensors even though the Dexcom G4 is remarkably accurate.

Given the complexities of living with diabetes during the day, the first system we are likely to see will be an automated night system possibly with some daytime protections to avoid lows through a predictive system.  The hope is to have some form of the system in our hands in the next three years provided there is a company that wants to market and sell the system.  I’d be perfectly happy with a system that was on autopilot during the night but still required human intervention during the day.  If the system works as it did for me, I’d be confident that we could see the end of dead in bed syndrome, remarkably better A1Cs and better blood sugars during the day.  Keep in mind there are other companies working on artificial pancreas systems that may have different plans.

Like every other person with diabetes or who cares for a person with diabetes, I want to see the home run right away.  The system that completely controls blood sugars day and night.  But we are not there yet, there needs to be faster insulin or a method of speeding up insulin absorption, better sensors, and possibly additional hormones.  Patience will be key as we watch these technologies continue to improve.  The system I used is not that home run but it is remarkably better than the current way I care for my diabetes.  Until that home run is here, I will continue to fight and continue to do the best I can to live a life with diabetes complication free.  I encourage anyone who is interested in a trial to search JDRF’s website.”

“I am so happy that I participated in this trial, which will help to push these technologies forward to make a better life for all T1D’s and their families.”

 

For more information on the artificial pancreas project, check out the following links:

https://www.jdrf.org/blog/2013/the-artificial-pancreas-does-its-homework

http://artificialpancreasproject.com

http://news.virginia.edu/content/uva-s-artificial-pancreas-project-receives-34-million-grant