Artificial pancreas performed well in humans in US

A team of the US researchers has developed a functional artificial pancreas that has performed well in humans in clinical settings.

It's been developed by combining mechanical artificial pancreas technology with transplantation of islet cells which produce insulin.

In a study of 14 patients with pancreatitis who underwent standard surgery and auto-islet transplantation treatments, a closed-loop insulin pump was better than multiple daily insulin injections for maintaining normal blood glucose levels, the authors wrote.

The insulin pump relies on a continuous cycle of feedback information related to blood measurements.

"Use of the mechanical artificial pancreas in patients after islet transplantation may help the transplanted cells to survive longer and produce more insulin for longer," said Dr Gregory Forlenza, pediatric endocrinologist from Children's Hospital Colorado.

"We hope that combining these technologies will aid a wide spectrum of patients including patients with diabetes, in the future," he wrote in a paper in the journal American Journal of Transplantation.