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Is it not possible to have a device always connected to the bloodstream, with a replenishable supply of glucose and insulin in different compartments, that peri

by prmph 5y ago

Is it not possible to have a device always connected to the bloodstream, with a replenishable supply of glucose and insulin in different compartments, that periodically checks the blood sugar level, and injects what is appropriate to keep it normal?

jacquesm 5y ago
This is either in trial or already in distribution, it is essentially a metered insulin pump coupled with a continuous glucose monitor. https://www.diabetes.org.uk/guide-to-diabetes/diabetes-technology/closed-loop-systems https://www.diabetes.org.uk/guide-to-diabetes/diabetes-techn...
deleted 5y ago
[deleted]
kelp 5y ago
This kind of exists, and here is one such system: https://www.tandemdiabetes.com/products/t-slim-x2-insulin-pump/control-iq https://www.tandemdiabetes.com/products/t-slim-x2-insulin-pu... The pump delivers insulin and gets blood glucose readings from a CGM (continuous glucose monitor) over bluetooth. Then the pump can make decisions such as stopping insulin delivery if you're going to go low, doing small correction boluses, and adjusting basal rate. However it's far from perfect and still needs a lot of management. My wife has T1D and was recently pregnant, which really raises the bar on how tightly you need to control your diabetes. She ended up mostly micromanaging it all herself rather than trusting Control IQ to do the right thing. The other issue is CGMs are not that accurate, so these systems are making decisions based on not great data.
- code_duck 5y ago
  I have a tandem pump. The problem I see is that you still have to wait an hour for the insulin to take affect. And like you say, it’s based on CGM data which is not always accurate enough. Perhaps in the future there will be implants that deliver insulin in a more direct route, such as intravenous or intramuscular. That would also make an overdose more dangerous, though.
code_duck 5y ago
There are systems that automatically deliver insulin, but I don’t know of anything that automatically delivers glucose. That would be convenient.

by prmph 5y ago

jacquesm 5y ago

This is either in trial or already in distribution, it is essentially a metered insulin pump coupled with a continuous glucose monitor. https://www.diabetes.org.uk/guide-to-diabetes/diabetes-technology/closed-loop-systems https://www.diabetes.org.uk/guide-to-diabetes/diabetes-techn...

deleted 5y ago

[deleted]

kelp 5y ago

This kind of exists, and here is one such system: https://www.tandemdiabetes.com/products/t-slim-x2-insulin-pump/control-iq https://www.tandemdiabetes.com/products/t-slim-x2-insulin-pu... The pump delivers insulin and gets blood glucose readings from a CGM (continuous glucose monitor) over bluetooth. Then the pump can make decisions such as stopping insulin delivery if you're going to go low, doing small correction boluses, and adjusting basal rate. However it's far from perfect and still needs a lot of management. My wife has T1D and was recently pregnant, which really raises the bar on how tightly you need to control your diabetes. She ended up mostly micromanaging it all herself rather than trusting Control IQ to do the right thing. The other issue is CGMs are not that accurate, so these systems are making decisions based on not great data.

code_duck 5y ago
I have a tandem pump. The problem I see is that you still have to wait an hour for the insulin to take affect. And like you say, it’s based on CGM data which is not always accurate enough. Perhaps in the future there will be implants that deliver insulin in a more direct route, such as intravenous or intramuscular. That would also make an overdose more dangerous, though.

code_duck 5y ago

There are systems that automatically deliver insulin, but I don’t know of anything that automatically delivers glucose. That would be convenient.