Artificial pancreas just years away, experts agree

By Maggie Fox, Health and Science Editor

BETHESDA, Maryland (Reuters) - Researchers working on an artificial pancreas believe they are just a few years away from a nearly carefree way for people with diabetes to monitor blood and inject insulin as needed.

They believe they can link two current technologies -- continuous glucose monitoring and insulin pumps -- into a seamless package.

Such a mechanical pancreas could greatly reduce the need for fingersticks and injections of insulin that diabetics must now endure several times a day, researchers told a meeting this week at the National Institutes of Health.

"I think we are on the brink of a first-generation artificial pancreas," said Dr. Roman Hovorka of Britain's University of Cambridge, who is testing some experimental devices with components by Abbott Laboratories and Medtronic, the No. 1 maker of insulin pumps and continuous monitors.

Hovorka's team has been testing devices in patients with type-1 diabetes, an autoimmune disease caused when the body mistakenly destroys the insulin-making cells in the pancreas.

A continuous glucose sensor is implanted under the skin, and transmits blood sugar readings to a monitor. A computer calculates the right dose of insulin, which is delivered by an insulin pump -- something many patients already wear.

His team is ready to send some patients home with the device, but has to work out the logistics of keeping a nurse full-time in each volunteer's home, just in case.

U.S. Food and Drug Administration regulators are working closely with the researchers to ensure they design studies in a way that can lead to quick review, said Dr. Aaron Kowalski of the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, which funds many of the artificial pancreas study teams.