Artificial Pancreas | UVA Health (original) (raw)

The artificial pancreas essentially functions like a real pancreas does in people without Type 1 diabetes.

Artificial Pancreas for Type 1 Diabetes Patients

Type 1 diabetes requires constant monitoring. Patients need to check their blood sugar daily and adjust their medication and activities accordingly.

An artificial pancreas developed by researchers here at UVA could change that.

The system has two parts:

• A smartphone that uses an algorithm to automatically deliver the proper amount of insulin and control blood sugar levels
• An implanted insulin pump that receives blood sugar levels from the hand-held device every five minutes

Testing the Artificial Pancreas at UVA

The Food and Drug Administration recently approved the first U.S. artificial pancreas clinical trials for patients outside of a hospital. A similar trial in Europe showed patients could maintain safe blood sugar levels while spending a night outside of the hospital. Earlier tests on patients in hospitals in Europe and the United States were also promising.

The Juvenile Diabetes Foundation's Artificial Pancreas Project is an international consortium including teams from:

• UVA
• The University of California in Santa Barbara
• Montpellier University Hospital in France
• The Universities of Padova and Pavia in Italy

Learn More About the Clinical Trial

Find out more about this clinical trial: Email us.