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What is an artificial pancreas? Can it really replace our endocrine system?
Before talking about artificial pancreas, we must first understand the function of pancreas. Normally, the human pancreas is responsible for producing a variety of hormones, the most important of which include insulin and glucagon. These two hormones work together to maintain blood sugar balance. However, for people with diabetes, this process is hampered, leading to the development of automated insulin delivery systems.
Automated Insulin Delivery Systems (AID) are designed to help diabetics who need insulin automatically adjust insulin delivery based on blood sugar levels.
The development history of automated insulin delivery systems
Automated insulin delivery systems trace their roots back to the first introduction of the Biostator, which contains early technology foundations. As technology advances, these systems appear in many forms, including predictive hypoglycemia pauses, hybrid closed-loop systems, and more.
Current AID system category
Currently available AID systems can be divided into three categories:
- Predictive Hypoglycemia Pause System (PLGS)
- Hybrid Closed Loop System (HCL)
- Fully closed loop system (FCL)
The predictive hypoglycemia pause system can automatically reduce or stop insulin delivery when a hypoglycemic event is predicted.
Key components of AID systems
A complete automated insulin delivery system consists of a continuous glucose monitor (CGM), insulin pump and algorithm. These components need to work together to continuously monitor and adjust blood sugar levels.
Currently available commercial systems
Currently, there are many commercial AID systems on the market, such as:
- MiniMed 670G
- Tandem’s Control-IQ
- Omnipod 5
MiniMed 670G is the first FDA-approved hybrid closed-loop system that automatically adjusts a patient's basal insulin delivery.
Future Development Direction
In the future, with the development of science and technology, the concept of artificial pancreas will go further. For example, there is now research underway to develop systems that combine insulin and glucagon, which would more closely mimic the function of the natural pancreas.
Limitations of artificial pancreas
Although artificial pancreas shows considerable potential in diabetes management, current technology still presents several challenges. Users still need to perform operations such as meal management and adjusting basic delivery, and fully automated systems are not yet generally available.
Many patients still face severe hypoglycemic events, demonstrating the limitations of this technology.
Conclusion
The advancement of artificial pancreas has improved the quality of life of diabetic patients. However, whether it can really replace the human endocrine system is still a question that needs to be answered by future scientific research. Faced with all this, we can't help but reflect on whether artificial technology can perfectly reproduce the physiological functions of the human body to avoid the difficulties faced by diabetic patients?
