ARTICLE SUMMARY:
Researchers have engineered novel devices to house and protect insulin-secreting beta cells inside the body, and they are combining that technology with human stem cell-derived or even animal-derived beta cells. Their aim is to construct what is essentially a bioartificial pancreas, supplied with readily available lab-grown cells and designed to restore normal, or near-normal, insulin production and glucose regulation to patients with type 1 diabetes.
While the diabetes community is focusing much of its current attention on the mechanical artificial pancreas arena, where researchers are working to integrate insulin pumps with continuous glucose sensors (see “Diabetes Devices: Engineering the Future,” The MedTech Strategist, October 29, 2014), other groups have been exploring another, related avenue – cell transplantation and encapsulation technologies for diabetes – and have recently reached some important milestones.
