An artificial pancreas constitutes of three parts that work effectively together to mimic how a healthy pancreas controls the various blood glucose levels, also known as blood sugar, in the body. An artificial pancreas is generally used in helping people having type 1 diabetes. In type 1 diabetes, the pancreas don't produce insulin. The Artificial Pancreas Market was valued at USD 275.51 Mn and is predicted to reach an amount of around USD 530.31 Mn by 2028, with a CAGR of 8.53 %.
A multicentre randomized clinical trial was conducted for a new artificial pancreas system that automatically monitors & regulates the various blood glucose levels. It has been found that this new system is more effective compared to the existing treatments for controlling the various blood glucose levels in people suffering from type 1 diabetes. The trial was entirely funded by the NIDDK or National Institute of Diabetes & Digestive & Kidney Diseases (NIDDK).
The research study revealed that the system highly improved the level of blood glucose control all through the day & overnight. The latter is common but is a serious challenge for children & adults suffering from type 1 diabetes, as the blood glucose can eventually drop to dangerously low levels when a person is sleeping.
The artificial pancreas, also widely known as the closed-loop control, is regarded as an “all-in-one” diabetes management system that accurately tracks the blood glucose levels while using a CGM (continuous glucose monitor) & automatically delivers the hormone insulin as needed by means of an insulin pump. The system totally replaces the reliance on testing by a fingerstick or CGM with a separate delivery of the insulin by multiple daily injections or by means of a pump.
The IDCL (International Diabetes Closed-Loop) inculcates 5 separate artificial pancreas clinical protocols that were implemented by 10 research centres in USA & Europe. This six-month study duration was the third phase in a particular series of trials. It was conducted along with the participants who were living their usual day-to-day lives so that the researchers could best understand about how the system exactly works in typical daily routines.
“Testing the various safety measures & effectiveness of the new technologies in the real-world settings is very much critical to prove the usability of the existing systems by people suffering from diabetes in achieving a better daily control of their variety of blood glucose levels,” stated Guillermo Arreaza-Rubín, the M.D and director of the NIDDK’s Diabetes Technology Program & project scientist. He also added that “Earlier technologies have made the management of type 1 diabetes much easier, & this research clearly shows that this artificial pancreas system has the ability to improvise the health of people who are living with type 1 diabetes, thus simultaneously lifting much of the burden of care from those who have the disease & their respective caregivers.”
CONCLUSION
168 participants enrolled in this iDCL protocol whose age were 14 or older and were suffering from type 1 diabetes. They were assigned randomly for usage either in the artificial pancreas system known as a sensor-augmented pump (SAP) or as Control-IQ therapy with a CGM & insulin pump that didn’t automatically adjust the insulin throughout the day. Participants had contacted with the study staff in every 2 to 4 weeks to download and review the device data. No remote monitoring of the systems was performed so that the study would reflect the real-world use.
