DIY Pancreas?

People suffering from diabetes have turned to sophisticated do-it-yourself technologies. Here’s the abstract to an excellent article on these developments by Crabtree, McLay and Wilmot:

Diabetes technology has been advancing rapidly over recent years. While some of this is driven by medical technology companies, a lot of the driving force for these developments comes from people living with diabetes (#WeAreNotWaiting) who have developed their own ‘do-it-yourself’ artificial pancreas systems (DIY APS) using continuous glucose monitoring, insulin pumps and smartphone technology to run algorithms shared freely with the intent of improving quality of life and glycaemic control. Existing evidence, although observational, seems promising but more robust data are required to establish the safety and outcomes. This is unregulated technology and the off-label use of interstitial glucose monitors and insulin pumps can be disconcerting for people living with diabetes, health care professionals, organisations, and diabetes technology companies alike.

Here we discuss the principles of DIY APS, the outcomes observed so far and the feedback from users, and debate the ethical issues which arise before looking to the future and newer technologies on the horizon.

Hat tip: Dennis Sheehan.