A team of United States-based researchers has developed a smartphone system, which is equipped with a combo of a wearable insulin pump and a sensor that treats Type 1 diabetes, was previously known as juvenile diabetes effortlessly – dropping constant finger pricks and manual insulin injections as it will automatically monitor the blood sugar levels and provide the insulin dosage as required.
Boris Kovatchev, the Director at the University Of Virginia Center for Diabetes Technology, along with his research team, has been trying to come up, with an artificial pancreas arrangement since 2006. Recently, he tied up with Francis Doyle III, the Dean of the Paulson School of Engineering, and Applied Sciences at Harvard for the project that is expected to enter the two finals phases of the international testing in 2016.
How does the smartphone system work?
The flash drive-sized blood-glucose sensor that can be worn in various parts of our body, such as an arm, leg, or the abdomen. The device reads the levels of glucose and reports them to the customized Android app within the smartphone in the vicinity.
Once the reports are reached, the algorithm of the app makes an analysis of the data and directs the insulin pump through a wireless connection to supply the insulin in required amount within the blood stream. A fine needle that is attached to the pump completes the delivery.
It is a type of closed-loop system that has been mainly designed to cut down the risk of Type 1 diabetes. It aims to change the life of millions of people who have to check their blood multiple times in a day and inject insulin manually to maintain the right balance of insulin in their bloodstream causing uncertainty and monotony in their life.
