University of Virginia has a smartphone-controlled artificial pancreas

Danielle Kirsh, MDO Assistant Editor

University of Virginia artificial pancreas — [Image courtesy of University of Virginia]

University of Virginia researchers are making strides when it comes to developing an artificial pancreas that can be controlled using a smartphone.

The FDA approved the UVA-developed artificial pancreas for testing in 2012, and UVA received a $3.4M grant from the National Institutes of Health in 2013. The device is currently in the testing phase and will be sent to the FDA for approval upon completion in 2018, according to the university.

The UVA-developed artificial pancreas is one of a number of artificial pancreas devices under development. Medtronic developed the MiniMed 670G system, which is a closed loop system that monitors glucose and delivers insulin based on the glucose readings. The MiniMed 670G continuously delivers user-selected basal insulin to manage type 1 diabetes, though users still need to manually handle mealtime insulin doses. It was approved by the FDA on Sept. 28, 2016.

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