Artificial Pancreas Helps Type 1 Diabetics

Kerry Morgan was just 3 years old when she participated in her first clinical trial for type 1 diabetes prevention. She didn't have the disease, but her 7-year-old sister did and there was concern that she might develop it, too. During the trial she was given one shot of insulin a day in the hope that it would stave off the disease, but a year later, she was officially diagnosed.

"I remember a lot of things changed." Morgan said. "I went from having juice every day and M&Ms to not having sugar at all. I remember getting shots every day, finger pricks, my parents had to hold me down."

School, she says was difficult. "You had to let teachers know what was going on. You had a special relationship with the nurse because she had to check your blood sugar every day before going to lunch."

At 14 she entered a second trial, this one at the University of Virginia, for a continuous glucose monitoring system called The Navigator. It was at UVA that she first learned about the artificial pancreas. A high school senior at 18 now, she has participated in four clinical trials and two have involved artificial pancreas systems.

"It was awesome. I've never done anything quite like it before. For the two days that I was on the artificial pancreas I experienced normalcy. I wasn't checking myself every five seconds and giving myself insulin because it was doing it for me."

In type 1 diabetics, the pancreas makes very little or no insulin, a hormone that controls glucose levels, or the amount of sugar in your blood. Patients must constantly check their levels throughout the day, determine how much insulin they need to lower their blood sugar and administer the proper amount using a pump or syringe. Drops or spikes in blood sugar can be extremely dangerous. If the level is too low - a condition called hypoglycemia - patients can experience shakiness, confusion, trouble speaking, seizures, even coma and death. A level that is too high - hyperglycemia - can cause excessive thirst, frequent urination and cardiac arrhythmia. Left untreated, hyperglycemia can lead to a number of serious complications including vision loss and nerve damage.

An artificial pancreas mimics the glucose regulating function of a healthy pancreas. The automated device features a sensor that's placed under the skin that measures blood sugar. Information from this continuous glucose monitor is sent to a receiver and an insulin pump delivers insulin in controlled amounts. A glucose meter calibrates the sensor. Sophisticated software checks the blood sugar in the body and automatically provides the correct dose of insulin needed at the right time.

"When you have diabetes, every second you're thinking about your blood sugar," says Morgan. "You're wondering if you're high, if you're low, if you're OK, if you're giving yourself enough insulin, if you're not giving yourself enough insulin. With the artificial pancreas it takes that worry away because it's doing it for you. It lets you know if something's wrong. That way you're not always worrying about your blood sugar."