SMART INSULIN PATCH COULD BE DIABETES “GAME CHANGER”

Novel System Stores Insulin and Then Delivers it Automatically When Required

An automated system for managing the daily toll of checking blood sugar levels and injecting insulin is often seen as the holy grail for diabetes sufferers. This medical breakthrough has so far evaded researchers, but now a group of scientists from the University of North Carolina and NC State has suggested its smart insulin patch could be a ‘game changer.’ The thin patch is carpeted with over 100 tiny needles that are loaded with insulin and glucose-sensing enzymes, stored in a novel configuration. The researchers observed encouraging results in a mouse model of type 1 diabetes and hope to replicate this success in future clinical trials in humans.

The patch is worn on the skin and uses artificial vesicles (tiny sacks containing hyaluronic acid and 2-nitroimidazole) in conjunction with solid insulin and enzymes to monitor glucose and subsequently release insulin into the bloodstream if there is an increase in blood sugar levels. “The hard part of diabetes care is not the insulin shots, or the blood sugar checks, or the diet but the fact that you have to do them all several times a day every day for the rest of your life,” said co-senior author John Buse. “If we can get these patches to work in people, it will be a game changer.”