Artificial Pancreas Passes Human Trial

[Eleima]

Just to clarify, Type 1 diabetes is a genetic disorder it will usually manifest itself in the first 20 years of life and is not caused by a bad diet. This is where the beta cells in the pancreas stop producing insulin meaning sugars aren't take up by other body parts. This machine helps provide the insulin.
Type 2 diabetes is caused by a bad diet, and is where too much sugar causes your body to become insulin resistant therefore not reacting to the insulin (produced by the pancreas) as much and therefore less sugar is being taken up. The machine can do nothing for this condition, as the person's pancreas is fine and their cells are not reacting to insulin anyway.
Just in case you wanted to know.

You hit the nail on the head there. Only thing I'd have to add, is that there does seem to be a genetic predisposition to type 2 diabetes as well, even though a bad diet is a major factor.

I'd read on this, but hadn't realized they'd already moved on to human trials. I'm not familiar with the HHM, but wow, if it integrates the pump, and the monitor... Because the main hurdle is that you need to adapt insulin doses to glucose levels, and if a software can regulate the amount of insulin it delivers according to the glucose levels. Close monitoring would be required, of course, something can go wrong (the software, the pump, the monitor), but that's pretty much a given in medicine anyhow. There's always something that can go wrong, prepare for all contingencies.

Would I trust an algorithm with this? Yeah, sure, why not. It's not that complicated anyhow, if x > y, then give z amount of insulin, etc. Would I want to have such a device? Probably not, though. I'll be sticking to a healthy lifestyle, hoping I don't get diabetes. We'll cross that bridge when and if we get to it.

 

[Vicarious Reality]

Reading about things like this keeps me going... probably literally
I wonder how much reading scientific medical newspapers contributes to the optimism

Ironically, i am actually having strange pains in my chest

 

[Gordon Freemonty]

Reading about things like this keeps me going... probably literally
I wonder how much reading scientific medical newspapers contributes to the optimism

Ironically, i am actually having strange pains in my chest

Why is that ironic?

 

[dmase]

Hmm. doesn't the software need recharging? Something that works on electrical impulses can't possibly have an infinity of them stored up.

If so, how do you do it? Do you open the patient back up and change the batteries?
Because that's pretty damn rough.

Also, yes I would trust an algorithm. Algorithms never make mistakes unless they weren't programmed properly in the first place. And chances are, if it's already been extensively tested... it isn't a matter of "trust".

I don't think a device like this necessarily needs to be completely embedded in a person; insulin pumps at the moment use electronics and aren't, as far as I know, hidden inside someone.

Anyway, interesting things! You're right about it not technically being a matter of "trust" - but humans are fickle creatures. Take the contraceptive pill, for example. Most women who use that stop taking it for a week every month, which induces a fake period of sorts. This isn't at all necessary, but for people who've spent their whole lives taking a period as an indication of their reproductive health, it feels necessary. Medically it means almost nothing, but it's still included as part of the regimen. I've heard it referred to as a "sympathy bleed," even.

So how would a diabetic habituated to years of regulating their own blood sugar and insulin feel about handing control over to a small, but very clever, machine? Would the payoff of not having to inject routinely override any worries? I think it's an interesting line of inquiry.


EDIT: And then there are the embedded human batteries, of course... http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/113719-Scientists-Create-Deus-Ex-Style-Biofuel-Battery

According to earlier published papers the closed loop algorithm based system works better than people that inject themselves with insulin on a daily basis. Sensing physiological changes before people feel negative effects or time it.

http://care.diabetesjournals.org/content/33/1/121.full

And of course the person could always inject themselves with insulin if they felt they needed to.

 

[dmase]

snipped

The whole replacing insulin thing would become a problem first. They probably couldn't keep more than a week, at most, worth of insulin in the device at once. After all it needs to be kept cool and the device is going to be in the human body 24/7 at a very warm 37 degrees Celsius.

So they need easy access to the device to add insulin and probably just as easy to recharge. Unlike a pacemaker it doesn't need to be in an invasive place. A pacemaker obviously needs to be near the heart, leaving a lot of room for error. The Pancreas could be in the foot and as long as their was good blood supply you'd be fine, I am curious where this thing would be implanted because of course it wouldn't work nearly as well in the foot as the mid section.

 

[zehydra]

http://cdn2.screenjunkies.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/Screen-shot-2011-09-26-at-4.34.54-PM.png
Cool Story Bro
What kind of lesson is this for kids? Eat crappy food, grow up to become a cyborg.

Hell why wouldn't you want to do that? I get to eat shit and become megaman!

lol

 

[dmase]

It sounds good especially if you hate injections and checking your blood glucose levels, however I'm not too sure how many people would want to have this on them:

Spoiler: picture of HHM

Just to clarify, Type 1 diabetes is a genetic disorder it will usually manifest itself in the first 20 years of life and is not caused by a bad diet. This is where the beta cells in the pancreas stop producing insulin meaning sugars aren't take up by other body parts. This machine helps provide the insulin.

Type 2 diabetes is caused by a bad diet, and is where too much sugar causes your body to become insulin resistant therefore not reacting to the insulin (produced by the pancreas) as much and therefore less sugar is being taken up. The machine can do nothing for this condition, as the person's pancreas is fine and their cells are not reacting to insulin anyway.

Just in case you wanted to know.

Really wish the picture had been posted earlier, much less speculation. But now i'm a bit disappointed by the whole thing.

 

[Gordon Freemonty]

It sounds good especially if you hate injections and checking your blood glucose levels, however I'm not too sure how many people would want to have this on them:

Spoiler: picture of HHM

Just to clarify, Type 1 diabetes is a genetic disorder it will usually manifest itself in the first 20 years of life and is not caused by a bad diet. This is where the beta cells in the pancreas stop producing insulin meaning sugars aren't take up by other body parts. This machine helps provide the insulin.

Type 2 diabetes is caused by a bad diet, and is where too much sugar causes your body to become insulin resistant therefore not reacting to the insulin (produced by the pancreas) as much and therefore less sugar is being taken up. The machine can do nothing for this condition, as the person's pancreas is fine and their cells are not reacting to insulin anyway.

Just in case you wanted to know.

Really wish the picture had been posted earlier, much less speculation. But now i'm a bit disappointed by the whole thing.

Why are you disappointed? This thing will change my life among many others. This is the next best thing to a cure!

 

[dalek sec]

Anyone else getting Repo Men flashbacks?

...

Yeah, I'll just aim at trying to eat healthy and maintain my 100% organic body the best I can.

[sub]Not that I'm against lifesaving technology, I'm just not eager to do it myself.[/sub]

Yeah... though I liked Repo! The Genetic Opera alot more than that one.

OT: Wow, this is pretty cool and finally nice to hear a uplifting story for once.

I think I'm with =y on the whole "try and keep as much of myself as I can" group. I'm not against lifesaving tech either, just want to hold onto as much of me as I can.

 

[Gordon Freemonty]

Anyone else getting Repo Men flashbacks?

...

Yeah, I'll just aim at trying to eat healthy and maintain my 100% organic body the best I can.

[sub]Not that I'm against lifesaving technology, I'm just not eager to do it myself.[/sub]

Yeah... though I liked Repo! The Genetic Opera alot more than that one.

OT: Wow, this is pretty cool and finally nice to hear a uplifting story for once.

I think I'm with =y on the whole "try and keep as much of myself as I can" group. I'm not against lifesaving tech either, just want to hold onto as much of me as I can.

FYI, if you were meant to get t1 diabetes, you will get it. No amount of healthy food and excercise will stop it. It is autoimmune.

 

[dmase]

It sounds good especially if you hate injections and checking your blood glucose levels, however I'm not too sure how many people would want to have this on them:

Spoiler: picture of HHM

Just to clarify, Type 1 diabetes is a genetic disorder it will usually manifest itself in the first 20 years of life and is not caused by a bad diet. This is where the beta cells in the pancreas stop producing insulin meaning sugars aren't take up by other body parts. This machine helps provide the insulin.

Type 2 diabetes is caused by a bad diet, and is where too much sugar causes your body to become insulin resistant therefore not reacting to the insulin (produced by the pancreas) as much and therefore less sugar is being taken up. The machine can do nothing for this condition, as the person's pancreas is fine and their cells are not reacting to insulin anyway.

Just in case you wanted to know.

Really wish the picture had been posted earlier, much less speculation. But now i'm a bit disappointed by the whole thing.

Why are you disappointed? This thing will change my life among many others. This is the next best thing to a cure!

I'm not a diabetic so this is a view from an engineering student. I wanted to see a interface that was wholly inside of the body, the implications of that for the bio-medical industry are more impressive.

Also if I had to look at this as a diabetic I would rather have something that was wholly inside the body aside from a sub dermal implant that allows easy access to the device kind of like dialysis patients have.

 

[Gordon Freemonty]

It sounds good especially if you hate injections and checking your blood glucose levels, however I'm not too sure how many people would want to have this on them:

Spoiler: picture of HHM

Just to clarify, Type 1 diabetes is a genetic disorder it will usually manifest itself in the first 20 years of life and is not caused by a bad diet. This is where the beta cells in the pancreas stop producing insulin meaning sugars aren't take up by other body parts. This machine helps provide the insulin.

Type 2 diabetes is caused by a bad diet, and is where too much sugar causes your body to become insulin resistant therefore not reacting to the insulin (produced by the pancreas) as much and therefore less sugar is being taken up. The machine can do nothing for this condition, as the person's pancreas is fine and their cells are not reacting to insulin anyway.

Just in case you wanted to know.

Really wish the picture had been posted earlier, much less speculation. But now i'm a bit disappointed by the whole thing.

Why are you disappointed? This thing will change my life among many others. This is the next best thing to a cure!

I'm not a diabetic so this is a view from an engineering student. I wanted to see a interface that was wholly inside of the body, the implications of that for the bio-medical industry are more impressive.

Also if I had to look at this as a diabetic I would rather have something that was wholly inside the body aside from a sub dermal implant that allows easy access to the device kind of like dialysis patients have.

Seeing as we have yet to see a first generation device, it could well come. Bear in mind that the first insulin pumps were so big they had to be strapped to the patients back rather like a backpack.

 

[My name is Fiction]

There are already embedded units which are charged externally. The real difference is that the software itself doesn't need assistance adjusting insulin, not that it's completely self-sufficient.

So do they last a lifetime or do they need replacement? Because we haven't taken such a great leap if we still need to do a surgery once in a while to change the batteries.

Wonder when usb ports will be developed that will allow people to charge the devices within themselves. Like, sticking out of the skin or something. That's when the real human revolution will begin.

Eventual it could become efficient enough to use the patients own bio-electricity to power the device. You can also use viral batteries for power and possible passive insulin production.