Scientists have made big progress on a “bionic pancreas” to free some people with diabetes from the daily ordeal of managing their disease.
Doctors say that a wearable, experimental device passed a real-world test by constantly monitoring blood sugar and automatically giving insulin or a sugar-boosting drug as needed.
Doctors tested it for five days in adults and teens with Type 1 diabetes, the kind often diagnosed in childhood. It improved blood-sugar control more than standard monitors and insulin pumps did.
The device was developed at Massachusetts General Hospital and Boston University. Results were featured Sunday at an American Diabetes Association conference in San Francisco and were published online by the New England Journal of Medicine.