World first for artificial pancreas team

cjb250 — Thu, 30 Apr 2015 13:35:46 +0000

Body artist Catriona Finlayson-Wilkins from Norfolk has type 1 diabetes, but used an artificial pancreas to produce insulin throughout her pregnancy. She gave birth to a boy at Norfolk and Norwich ̽��ֱ�� Hospital on Tuesday. She is the first mother in the world to use the device to give birth outside the main research site at Cambridge ̽��ֱ�� Hospitals. Three mothers have previously given birth, but all via caesarian section.

Women who have diabetes in pregnancy face higher rates of birth defects, oversized babies, pre-term delivery and stillbirth than other pregnant women. It is estimated that up to one in twenty women giving birth in England and Wales have either pre-existing diabetes or gestational diabetes and the number with type 1 and type 2 diabetes is rising.

Body artist Catriona Finlayson-Wilkins

̽��ֱ��technology is being trialled by the Closed Loop in Pregnancy study, based at the Metabolic Research Laboratories at the ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge ̽��ֱ��pancreas is the organ which produces insulin, which is one of the main hormones that help to regulate blood glucose levels. In type 1 diabetes, the beta cells that produce insulin are attacked by the body's immune system so an artificial pancreas can help to maintain insulin production, keeping the symptoms of diabetes at bay.

̽��ֱ��artificial pancreas device system is a small, portable medical device that is being designed to carry out the function of a healthy pancreas in controlling blood glucose levels in women with Type 1 diabetes. It uses digital communication technology to automate insulin delivery. ̽��ֱ��system is worn externally on the body, and is made up of three functional components: continuous glucose monitoring, a computer algorithm (mathematical instructions which calculate the insulin dose), developed by Director of Research Dr Roman Hovorka, and an insulin pump. These three components are termed an artificial pancreas or ‘closed loop’.

Full results of the study are expected to be published later this year. If the findings are positive, this may pave the way for the technology to become available for more women with diabetes who conceive in the future.

Dr Helen Murphy, Senior Research Associate/Honorary Consultant Physician at the Metabolic Research Laboratories and the Principal Investigator of the study, says that the first natural birth using the technology represents an exciting step forward in the treatment of diabetes in pregnancy. " ̽��ֱ��artificial pancreas is an exciting new technology that may help us to treat diabetes in pregnancy and create a group of healthier mothers and babies.”

Dr Zoe Stewart, a Gates Cambridge Scholar and Clinical Research Fellow on the study, said: “Treating diabetes in pregnancy can be particularly challenging because hormone levels are constantly changing and blood sugars can be difficult to predict. I study new treatments for diabetes in pregnancy and it's great to see our research helping mums have healthier pregnancies.”

̽��ֱ��research has been supported by Gates Cambridge, Diabetes UK and the National Institute for Health Research.

̽��ֱ��first natural birth to a mother with diabetes who has been fitted with an artificial pancreas took place this week. ̽��ֱ��device has been developed by researchers at the ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge.

̽��ֱ��artificial pancreas is an exciting new technology that may help us to treat diabetes in pregnancy and create a group of healthier mothers and babies

Helen Murphy

Diabetes UK

Artificial pancreas

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Artificial pancreas in pregnancy promises fewer diabetes deaths

ns480 — Tue, 01 Feb 2011 10:05:59 +0000

Pregnancy poses additional risks for women with diabetes as hormonal changes make it very difficult to keep blood glucose levels within a safe range, and especially at night. Babies of women with diabetes are five times as likely to be stillborn, three times as likely to die in their first months of life and twice as likely to have a major deformity. Two in three mothers with pre-existing diabetes have Type 1 diabetes. Hypoglycaemia (low blood glucose levels) in pregnancy is also a major cause of maternal mortality.

Published in the February issue of Diabetes Care and led by Dr Helen Murphy of the ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge's Department of Clinical Biochemistry in collaboration with Dr Roman Hovorka's group at the Institute of Metabolic Science, the study evaluated the performance of an artificial pancreas or 'closed-loop insulin delivery system' in ten pregnant women with Type 1 diabetes. ̽��ֱ��researchers found the device was able to automatically provide the right amount of insulin at the right time, maintain near normal blood glucose levels and, in turn, prevent nocturnal hypoglycaemia (low blood sugar) in both early and late pregnancy.

̽��ֱ��artificial pancreas was created by combining a continuous glucose monitor (CGM) with an insulin pump, both of which are already used separately by many people with Type 1 diabetes. Previous studies have shown improved blood glucose control and reduced hypoglycaemia with overnight use of an artificial pancreas in children with Type 1 diabetes but this is the first time it has been successfully used in pregnant women with the condition.

"For women with Type 1 diabetes, self-management is particularly challenging during pregnancy due to physiologic and hormonal changes. Previous studies indicate that pregnant women with the condition spend an average of ten hours a day with glucose levels outside the recommended target," said Dr Murphy.

"These high blood glucose levels increase the risk of congenital malformation, stillbirth, neonatal death, preterm delivery, macrosomia [oversized babies] and neonatal admission. So to discover an artificial pancreas can help maintain near-normal glucose levels in these women is very promising," she added.

Diabetes UK Director or Research, Dr Iain Frame, said: "Although early days, this exciting area of research has huge potential to make pregnancy much safer for women with Type 1 diabetes, and their babies. It's a fantastic example of how existing technologies, in this case, insulin pumps and CGMs, can be adapted and developed to benefit as many people with diabetes as possible.

"We now need to see an extension of this study, one which tests larger numbers of women, and then take it out of the hospital and in to the home setting."

Cambridge research funded by the health charity Diabetes UK has for the first time successfully demonstrated the potential of an artificial pancreas in pregnant women with Type 1 diabetes. It is hoped the development could drastically reduce cases of stillbirth and mortality rates among pregnant women with the condition.

For women with Type 1 diabetes, self-management is particularly challenging during pregnancy due to physiologic and hormonal changes.

Dr Helen Murphy

Credit - Flickr: heather aitken

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̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge - Helen Murphy

World first for artificial pancreas team

Artificial pancreas in pregnancy promises fewer diabetes deaths