Bionic pancreas better than normal insulin delivery methods for Type 1 diabetes patients Transcript

Speaker 1: (00:00) All right. It may not have a total cure, but a clinical trial that just wrapped up in San Antonio may have laid the groundwork for effortless lifelong control of diabetes. Speaker 2: (00:08) It was a huge trial for something called a bionic pancreas. Ursula Pari shows us why it got rave reviews from some pretty picky patients. Ursula Pari: (00:18) Up until 2020, Angelique Keys had a routine with her two diabetic daughters. Angelique Keys: (00:23) So I just sneak in the bed, finger poke, do the reading. Ursula Pari: (00:27) With 24/7 finger pricks and manual insulin injections, she and the girls jumped at the chance to try the bionic pancreas, an implant and Bluetooth device that uses a cellphone to monitor, give insulin, and even offer specific food choices all day every day. Angelique Keys: (00:44) So that there's less trial and error, there's less chance of having those really severe lows where you can go into a diabetic coma, you're by yourself. Kat Hickman: (00:54) When I did the study for that one, I didn't want to leave. Even when it was halfway, I was like, "No." Bella: (01:02) The little blue thing up here, that's my insulin. That's my battery. Ursula Pari: (01:06) The bionic pancreas was older sister Bella's key to independence. Bella: (01:10) It was the first time I'm ever having a sleepover, and also the first time with diabetes, I was very nervous. Ursula Pari: (01:17) Dr. Rabab Jafri oversaw the clinical trial whose results will now be published in The New England Journal of Medicine. Dr. Rabab Jafri: (01:25) Things like carbohydrate counting, calculating doses of insulin, giving yourself multiple doses to bring down high blood sugars are not needed at all with the bionic pancreas. Ursula Pari: (01:35) At the end of the 13-week trial, the results were in. Dr. Rabab Jafri: (01:39) There was an improvement in blood sugars, an improvement in an A1C, which is usually used as a target for blood sugar control, and an increased time spend in the target blood sugar range, which we saw in both children and adults. Ursula Pari: (01:53) This bionic pancrease system was put up against every FDA-approved diabetes control method that was available, and the results were so good, it's expected to be put on the market with FDA approval as early as next year. Ursula Pari, KSAT 12 News.