Must See Video: The Artificial Pancreas in Action

While we wait and hope for a diabetes cure, we make the most of the technology that helps us manage our disease.  Fortunately, the technology keeps getting better.  Earlier this month we reported the exciting news about the world’s first out-of-hospital artificial pancreas trial.  The trial, conducted by Professor Moshe Phillip and his team at the Institute of Endocrinology and Diabetes at Schneider Children’s Medical Center of Israel and Eran Atlas, head of the engineering team at the Diabetes Technology Institute at Schneider Children’s, took place on Kibbutz Ma’ale Hahamisha in the hills outside of Jerusalem.

[youtube]http://youtu.be/9HMx8yy2nVw[/youtube]

Eighteen children with type 1 diabetes participated in this experiment, which utilized the MD-Logic system developed at Schneider Children’s.  The MD-Logic system allows real-time control of the blood glucose levels based on readings from a continuous glucose sensor. It is based on a model which imitates the logic of diabetes caregivers.

We’re very happy that Israel’s Channel 2 News has granted us permission to translate and share their exclusive coverage of the artificial pancreas trial.  In the video below you will see children who are connected to an insulin pump, a continuous glucose sensor, and an artificial pancreas in the form of a laptop computer which communicates between the pump and the glucose sensor.  The artificial pancreas determines how many units of insulin to deliver, and is responsible for suspending insulin delivery in case of low blood sugar, and makes adjustments in basal rates.  All of this is done without any human input.  You’ll notice, however, that there is plenty of human input when it comes to caring for the children.   Throughout the experiment, including the nighttime hours, the doctors and engineers who developed this artificial pancreas sit in a control room where they observe and monitor all of the data for all of the children.  When a problem arises, they detect it immediately.

Our thanks to Channel 2 News and video editor Itai Berkovich.

Jessica Apple

Jessica Apple grew up in Houston. She studied Bible and Ancient Near Eastern Studies at the University of Michigan, and completed an MA in the same field at the Hebrew University. She began to write and publish short stories while a student, and has continued to write essays and fiction while raising her three sons (and many pets).

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Jessica Apple

Jessica Apple grew up in Houston. She studied Bible and Ancient Near Eastern Studies at the University of Michigan, and completed an MA in the same field at the Hebrew University. She began to write and publish short stories while a student, and continues to write essays and fiction while raising her three sons (and many pets). Jessica’s work has appeared in The New York Times Magazine, The Financial Times Magazine, The Southern Review, The Bellevue Literary Review, Tablet Magazine, and elsewhere. She is the diabetes correspondent for The Faster Times. In 2009 she and her husband, both type 1 diabetics, founded A Sweet Life, where she serves as editor-in-chief. Jessica loves spending time with her sons, cooking with her husband, playing with her cats, reading, biking, drinking coffee, and whenever possible, taking a nap. Follow Jessica on Twitter (@jessapple)