Artificial organ will appear in 2 years
Last reviewed: 23.04.2024
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According to experts, after 2 years, artificial pancreas will appear for transplantation to people in need, mainly patients with diabetes, who are forced to regularly check blood sugar and make insulin injections. The artificial organ will appear in clinical practice as early as 2018 - it is a special device for monitoring blood glucose levels and automatically adjusting insulin levels in the body.
The European Association for the Study of Autoimmune Diseases has already reported on the upcoming changes in the treatment of insulin-dependent diabetes. The artificial pancreas is designed specifically for patients with type 1 diabetes to independently determine the concentration of sugar in the blood and to enter the right amount of insulin, according to the developers, the dosage of insulin depends on various factors, in particular, on the physical activity of a person, the diet, To date, patients with type 1 diabetes mellitus themselves monitor blood sugar levels in order to timely correct the sugar level with the help of insulin injection.
Now the team of researchers is working on improving the device to work out the accuracy of its work and to study the issues of cybersecurity in order to prevent attempts of hacker attacks.
Also, scientists noted that the devices used to control sugar - a glucometer and an insulin pump - in fact "converge" in one device - the artificial pancreas. According to the researchers, the preliminary tests of the artificial organ were successful, and the volunteers highly appreciated the new therapy. First of all, all volunteers noted the lack of the need to constantly monitor their condition. According to the developers, all volunteers reported that with the artificial pancreas they became really free and were able to engage in daily activities, for the first time in a long time without fearing for their health.
In each case, the need for insulin is different. Patients control the level of sugar to prevent the development of hyperglycemia (excess blood sugar) or hypoglycemia (a critical reduction in sugar levels). In both cases, with both high and low sugar levels, there is a risk of severe damage to the blood vessels, nerve endings, which as a result will cause problems with the vessels and the heart.
In addition to the glycemeter and insulin pump, patients with type 1 diabetes mellitus may choose other treatments, for example, transplantation of beta cells or the pancreas. The disadvantage of this therapy is the need to take drugs that suppress the work of the immune system. As with the whole organ transplant, and in case of transplantation of individual beta cells, immunity can attack foreign cells and destroy more than 80%. Cambridge experts noted that when transplanting an artificial organ, there is no need to take immunosuppressants, in addition, the transplantation operation is less traumatic.
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