"In the last years the development of an artificial pancreas (AP) has made great progress and many activities are still ongoing in this area of research", says project coordinator Prof. Dr. Lutz Heinemann, who also works as a scientific advisor for the Profil Institute for Clinical Research in Germany.
"An especially major step forward that has been made, is moving the evaluation of AP systems from 'highly controlled experimental conditions' in hospitals to 'daily life conditions' at the home of diabetes patients."
This was also the aim of the EU-funded AP@home project, Heinemann explains: "Over a time-period of five years, a series of clinical studies were performed during which patients used an AP system in their home environment for two or three months, without supervision by a physician, living their normal lives."
The AP@Home experts witnessed a significant improvement in glycated hemoglobin during closed-loop conditions. In addition, the project experts developed a 'single-port AP system' that combines continuous glucose monitoring and insulin infusion into one single catheter.
Combined device
Prof. Heinemann: "By using such a combined device, the patients not only have to carry one device less around , also the number of access points through the skin is reduced from two to one."
But what is the advantage for diabetes patients carrying such a device around? Heinemann: "Developing an artificial pancreas means that patients with diabetes can take a 'break' from their disease; an automatic system takes control of their blood glucose. Of course this 'technical cure' of diabetes does not mean that patients can totally forget about their disease, but it will reduce the burden and risks associated massively."
Next steps
"The next step is to develop this into a product", says Heinemann. "This might be done in the framework of another EU-funded project, or by the manufacturer of the systems used to measure glucose continuously and infuse insulin. Reliable sources expect such products to come to the market within the next 1-2 years in the US. It is not clear if this will be the case in the EU as rapidly."
AP@Home consists of 12 European partners, both academic centres and industry. Under the coordination of Prof. Heinemann and Dr. Hans de Vries (consultant internist and endocrinologist at the Academic Medical Centre, Amsterdam), they closely cooperated to enable the evaluation of two control algorithms for an artificial pancreas under daily life conditions.
- Archive Digital Agenda for Europe website: 'Artificial pancreas: What's the status?'