Press releases

Yale-New Haven Hospital news release
Release date: April 29, 2008
Media contact: (203) 688-2488

'Artificial pancreas' at Yale-New Haven helps steer dramatic changes in diabetes care

New Haven — In a study published in the May issue of Diabetes Care, the clinical journal of the American Diabetes Association, researchers at Yale-New Haven Children's Hospital (YNHCH) report promising results from the first pediatric clinical trial of the "artificial pancreas," an automatic insulin delivery device that is expected to revolutionize diabetes treatment.

In a trial with 17 teenagers who agreed to spend three days in the hospital testing the device, YNHCH researchers found the "artificial pancreas" achieved a level of glucose control that was far superior to methods subjects had used previously. The device achieved near normal glucose control at night, when dangerous dips and surges in blood sugar are difficult to monitor and patients risk serious hyperglycemic episodes. Researchers also reported improved glucose levels after meals, another period of serious fluctuations, when they added to the device's normal function manual "priming" doses of insulin before meals.

"I would say the 'artificial pancreas' is not really a cure for diabetes, but it's a bridge to a cure that will vastly improve the quality of life for people with type 1 diabetes," said Stuart Alan Weinzimer, M.D., attending pediatric endocrinologist at YNHCH and associate professor at the Yale School of Medicine, and lead author of the study. "In the next five years, it's going to change the face of diabetes treatment by leaps and bounds. Everything that most pediatricians have learned about diabetes management is going to go completely out the window."

The device, about as big as a pager, was developed by Medtronic, a Minnesota-based company. It is an automatic "closed-loop" system made of three interacting synchronized parts: a sensor inserted just under the skin to monitor sugar levels continuously, an insulin infusion pump with a catheter to infuse insulin under the skin, and a computer algorithm that regulates the delivery of insulin based on information from the sensor.

Ideally, the "artificial pancreas" is designed to perform the same function as a real pancreas for diabetics whose bodies can't regulate blood sugar, eliminating the need for routine finger stick checks, which only measure blood sugar in the moment they're taken. It would improve quality of life and decrease complications of diabetes such as blindness, heart disease and kidney failure.

YNHCH was awarded funding from the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation to test the "artificial pancreas" on young people and continue to refine computerized algorithms for optimal timing of insulin delivery and proper dosages. In this study, they also tested a "hybrid" approach, which involved added "primer" doses of insulin 15 minutes before meals, which they found successfully avoided the dangerous fluctuations in glucose that can occur after meals.

Convenient, precise glucose management is especially important in improving the quality of life and children and adolescents, who can be especially difficult to manage outside of the hospital. "The problem with children and teenagers is they are so unpredictable," Dr. Weinzimer said. "Adults have fairly set schedules. We go to work, we go home, and if we're good we go to the gym. But kids are playing soccer one day, which lowers their blood sugar; the next day they are playing softball and standing around in right field, and their blood sugar is up. Parents of kids with diabetes live in fear of the night, when blood sugar levels can fall and routine monitoring is not done."

While general use of the "artificial pancreas" is several years away, YNHCH expects to launch further pediatric clinical trials in the coming months. Dr. Weinzimer and his colleagues consider the "artificial pancreas" to be the most important breakthrough in type 1 diabetes since 1978, when William Tamborlane, M.D., developed the first insulin infusion pump. Dr. Tamborlane, now chief of endocrinology at YNHCH, is senior author of the Diabetes Care article.

National statistics show one in every 400 to 600 children and adolescents has type 1 diabetes. In Connecticut, about half of the 2,000 pediatric patients diagnosed with type 1 diabetes are treated at YNHCH.

Yale-New Haven Children's Hospital, with 201 of Yale-New Haven's 944 beds, offers Connecticut's largest and most comprehensive array of maternity and pediatric services, including newborn special care and maternal special care units, a 19-bed pediatric intensive care unit, 24-hour pediatric emergency room, pediatric surgery center and a pediatric clinical research unit. For more information, visit www.ynhh.org or www.ynhch.org.

Return to: News Release Index

Last revised: March. 27, 2008 (dh)

Home page URL: http://www.ynhh.org

By accessing this Website, you agree to be bound by the terms and conditions set forth in our Privacy Policy, Usage Policy and other disclaimer pages and any other terms concerning use and operation of this site. All information is intended for your general knowledge and is not a substitute for medical advice or treatment for specific medical conditions. You should seek prompt medical care for any specific health issues and consult your physician before starting a new fitness regimen. Copyright © 2007, Yale-New Haven Hospital. All rights reserved. Comments or suggestions to the site editor.