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FDA approves glucose monitoring-insulin pump hybrid |
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Written by Eric Watt
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Apr 14, 2006 at 01:12 PM |
The FDA has approved a device that is capable of both monitoring blood-glucose levels and administering insulin. The device allows patients to more accurately monitor their condition and take appropriate action.
In our first DOTW article, we learned about Type I Diabetes. Currently, the only methods to combat the symptoms involve monitoring glucose levels, and injecting insulin to compensate. While adequate, it does pose some difficulties. Multiple blood tests per day can be painful, and having patients injecting insulin is not ideal. Doctors hope to one day replace the pancreas through transplant or artificial means in order to remove the dependency on insulin injections.
Researchers have gotten one step closer to this goal with an annoucement yesterday that the FDA had approved a device capable of continually monitoring blood-sugar levels and notifying the patient when insulin doses were needed. Every five minutes, a sensor relays glucose levels to a pager sized pump which monitors the levels over a 24 hour period. The pump is capable of constantly delivering insulin, much like the pancreas. While it doesn't completely remove the need for insulin shots, it allows patients to more accurately monitor blood-sugar levels. The device also is the first to both supply insulin and monitor blood-glucose levels.
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