An artificial pancreas recently developed at the National Center for Childhood Diabetes at Schneider Children’s Hospital in Israel, was tested on seven patients between the ages of 19 and 30. The device consists of a pump that releases insulin and a sensor, which is connected to a small computer which calculates the required amount of insulin to be delivered. The results of the trials, which were published in the journal “Diabetes Care,” were very encouraging: 70 percent of the patients maintained a reasonable level of blood sugar for the 24 hours they were connected to the device.
Prof. Moshe Phillip told Ha’aretz that international clinical trials will be held toward the end of this year, and the device should be available commercially within four years.
