Diabeloop is an artificial pancreas that aims to restore part of their freedom to those people forced to live with type 1 diabetes – that in which the body cannot produce enough insulin due to the destruction of the cells that synthesize this hormone -, since it is capable of measuring, in an intelligent and autonomous way, the patient’s blood glucose level , as well as deciding the dose of insulin to be supplied.
This medical breakthrough is being developed by French scientists from the Center for Studies and Research for the Intensification of Diabetes Treatment (CERITD), in collaboration with CEA-Leti, a French research laboratory specialized in electronics and information technology.
The device consists of a continuous glucose meter and a small patch-type insulin pump , and both are connected via Bluetooth to a smartphone equipped with a complex personalized algorithm that can specify the insulin needs of each individual patient.
Speaking to Le Quotidien du Médecin , Professor Éric Renard, a diabetes specialist at the Hospital of the University of Montpellier (France) –one of the hospital centers involved in the project–, points out that this pancreas 2.0 aims to restore “carefree” to the patients . And, therefore, improve your quality of life.
Because the type 1 diabetic will no longer have to be in charge of monitoring their blood glucose level or deciding on the insulin dose they need, decisions that sometimes lead to excessive errors (these can cause hypoglycemia, which, in very serious cases, even leading to coma) or by default (hyperglycemia can involve problems in the blood vessels that supply the eyes, kidneys, heart and brain or even promote the development of atherosclerosis).
Compared to other international competitors working on projects similar to this one, Diabeloop is distinguished by also having a remote service, which includes patient monitoring by medical teams 24 hours a day.
This project has been developed in France since 2011 and a first prototype successfully passed all the clinical studies carried out on 35 people in 2014. At this time, numerous tests and trials are still being carried out and, if the results are as expected, the Diabeloop It will begin to be marketed at the end of 2017 in Europe.
