[IPp] UC San Diego researchers develop implantable glucose sensor that lasts for a year in pigs

[Rachel A <email @ redacted>]

SWEET!!!!


http://www.latimes.com/news/health/boostershots/la-heb-glucose-sensor-20100730,0,1581073.story

UC San Diego researchers develop implantable glucose sensor that lasts for a
year in pigs
    [image: glucose sensor diagram]

glucose sensor diagram (Science Translational Medicine / July 30, 2010)




UC San Diego researchers have developed an implantable glucose sensor for
diabetics that has worked for a year in pigs and that could be a major step
forward toward the development of an artificial pancreas. As many as 800,000
people already use external insulin pumps that, through programming, inject
a continuous background level of insulin and higher jolts at mealtimes or
when a physical blood test indicates. The goal of many researchers has been
to develop a continuous glucose monitor that can be implanted and send
electronic signals to control how much insulin the pump secretes, thereby
mimicking the action of the pancreas. Despite widespread efforts, however,
that goal has proved elusive.

Bioengineer David Gough of UC San Diego and his colleagues have developed a
sensor that uses two continuous oxygen monitors. In a small chamber in the
device, glucose from the blood is oxidized and the device measures the
oxygen that is left behind. A second sensor measures the amount of oxygen in
the blood. By subtracting the two readings, the device can tell how much
glucose is in the blood. It then transmits the reading to a receiver that
must be within 10 to 12 feet of the patient.

Gough reported Wednesday in the journal Science Translational
Medicine<http://stm.sciencemag.org/> that
they had implanted the device, which is about 1.5 inches in diameter and 5/8
of an inch thick, into two pigs, where it operated successfully for a year
in one and for 10 months in the other. *Gough said he hopes to begin
clinical trials in humans within a year.* If the device is eventually
approved, he said, its first uses would probably be as a simple monitor.
Current practice for diabetics involves finger sticks about four times per
day to monitor blood sugar, but wide swings in sugar levels can occur
between measurements. Those swings are responsible for many of the
complications of diabetes.  Parents of diabetics, moreover, typically worry
about sugar levels in their children during the night, frequently waking
them up to take readings. The new device could broadcast an alert if levels
got too low or too high.

Rachel - email @ redacted
http://picasaweb.google.com/rachelncole
http://www.google.com/profiles/rachelandcole
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