People who have type 1 diabetes may feel like their body is simply working against them. Not being able to correctly produce insulin makes life difficult. Some of the challenges are living with sudden symptoms of blurry vision, fatigue, low energy, hunger and thirst. In the year 2019, 463 million people, aged 20 – 79, were living with diabetes, and that could skyrocket to 700 million by 2045. Of this, 1.1 million children and adolescents were living with type 1 diabetes last year. All these people live without a cure. They rely on constant treatment of insulin shots and managing blood sugar levels through diet and lifestyle. This is why Professor Hovorka led his team to develop this insulin smartphone app.
Commenting on the technology, Professor Roman Hovorka said,
This is a major stepping stone towards providing widely available, clinically proven, and user friendly artificial pancreas technology to people with type 1 diabetes. Our aim is to alleviate the ever-present burden of type 1 diabetes and improve health outcomes. This is the outcome of hard work, with more to come. We are indebted to all who are helping us on this journey.
This is the result of over a decade of research by Hovorka at the University of Cambridge and Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. Since a diabetic’s pancreas no longer produces insulin on its own, they need to manage this hormone in other ways. They often need to prick their finger for blood tests, inject insulin or have infusions just to stay alive. This has even led a software engineer to develop his own insulin pump.
The insulin app, called CamAPS FX, assists with managing insulin, even at night while a person is sleeping! 13 years of clinical research by Professor Hovorka and his research group at the Wellcome-MRC Institute of Metabolic Science has led to this. The smartphone app helps manage insulin by connecting directly to an artificial pancreas worn by the user, the Dana RS pump. An insulin pump is a portable device that you can even keep inside of it’s own special pouch. While connecting to the pump, it also connects to a separate monitoring tool named Dexcom G6.
The app, to perform its work and read data, is powered by a complex algorithm. It even provides important information to the user’s diabetes management team through the Diasend network! Though it seems well rounded enough as it currently is, there will always remain room for constant improvement. Research on this project will continue to ensure that everything done by the insulin pumps, monitoring and otherwise, can be controlled by the app with ease of use in realtime.
This research was backed by funding from the the type 1 diabetes charity JDRF, Diabetes UK, the National Institute for Health Research, the National Institutes of Health, Horizon 2020, and The Leona M and Harry B Helmsley Charitable Trust. This project, already launched commercially, is a life changing innovation for those with type 1 diabetes. Karen Addington, UK Chief Executive of JDRF, said:
JDRF is proud to have supported Professor Hovorka’s artificial pancreas research from the beginning, nearly 15 years ago. This app is a major innovation and a significant milestone on the road to a fully automated and interoperable artificial pancreas. There’s still more work to do, but this is an exciting step.
Fiona O’Reilly was part of clinical trial for the insulin smartphone app and her experience seems very positive;
Overall, it makes me feel free. It is the closest I have been to living without the burden of type 1 diabetes since I was diagnosed, which is a fabulous feeling – I feel less fearful of hypoglycaemia, and less ashamed of the fact that I find achieving good glycaemic control so tricky.
And it makes me feel more positive of my future with diabetes, that I have a chance of avoiding all the associated complications. It also makes me feel lucky to live in a time where this technology is possible and really grateful to be given the chance to try it out.
The app is now available on the UK Amazon Appstore for Android phones on a subscription basis starting at £70 per month.
