Thanks to the folks at Engaget we have learned that researchers have developed an artificial pancreas complete with a remote device that monitors your blood sugar, morning, noon and night.

This device could be a lifesaver for those with diabetes, particularly juvenile diabetes, if it could be a permanent implant that would allow for constant monitoring of blood sugar levels and injection of insulin from the device, says MIT Technology Review. One would hope that this device can be made accessible, affordable, and is proven to be safe for long-term use by the FDA. This device could potentially make disease management for diabetes incredibly simple and easy.

Yet, one wonders why one would prefer to have the Robo-Pancreas when they could have a real new pancreas grown from their own cells? One wonders why the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation is pursuing this line of research rather than that of Anthony Atala at the Wake Forest Institute of Regenerative Medicine who have already engineered artificial pancrei.

Yet while the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation continues to fund this work (see the project here), it is possible that Robo-Pancreas will be available in the not too distant future.

But if it were between a cellular replacement or a robotic one, for those dealing with diabetes, the bottom line is a pancreatic replacement of some kind will result in better health outcomes for all. Only time will tell which will be the better solution.

Summer Johnson, PhD