Experts Approve DIY Pancreas

More than 40 healthcare professionals and legal experts have issued the first guidance of its kind to support people with type 1 diabetes using Do-it-Yourself (DIY) technology-driven systems to manage their condition. The work is published today in The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology.The paper was co-led by King’s College London and Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust. It sets out recommendations that allow healthcare professionals to support DIY artificial pancreas systems as a safe and effective treatment option for type 1 diabetes.

Traditional monitoring of type 1 diabetes involves taking blood samples from the fingertips several times a day and calculating precise injections of insulin to maintain blood sugar levels. This can be a time-consuming and stressful method, but according to the paper’s authors, more than 10,000 people worldwide are choosing a different approach, and the number is growing.

The DIY systems, also known as open-source Automated Insulin Delivery (AID) systems, automatically adjust insulin dosing in response to continuous sensor glucose, insulin pump data and additional information using community-generated algorithms. It means that the algorithm can calculate the dosage and administer the dose automatically through conventional insulin pumps.

The authors note that such systems aim to reduce both hypo- and hyperglycaemia, but can also improve glycaemic and long-term health outcomes, reducing diabetes distress and burden, and improving sleep quality.