FROM Diatribe.org, 12/14/2016 : When JDRF started the Artificial Pancreas Project in 2006, the idea of automating insulin delivery using a standard insulin pump, a CGM, and a control algorithm seemed crazy to many patients. Even back in the early 2000s, researchers believed it could be done, but there were many barriers. CGM sensors were not considered accurate enough. Algorithms were immature and untested.
Experiments took place in tightly controlled research centers, far from real life. Insulin was thought to be too slow. And there was no clear FDA path to bring an actual product to market.
But a lot can change in ten years, and boy, was 2016 a pivotal year.
This is one of the best overviews of what’s coming in the next 2-3 years … and will answer most of your questions. Remember there are also do-it-yourself (#WeAreNotWaiting) closed loop systems available today … build, set up and use at your own risk. I’m hoping to start “Looping” in the next 1-2 weeks, using the RileyLink algorithm system, an older version Medtronic 723 and my Dexcom G5, as well as interfacing with Tidepool’s BLIP software app. I’m just so curious to know what it feels like to have a system that makes 280 decisions/day and levels out my blood sugars. And then, hopefully, the amazing hackers might have a way in to the Omnipod system, so I can “loop” with pods. Fingers crossed.
The Players, Products, and Timing – Listed in Chronological Order by Expected Time until Launch
- Medtronic MiniMed 670G Hybrid Closed Loop
- Tandem Predictive Low Glucose Suspend and Hybrid Closed Loop
- Bigfoot Biomedical Smartloop Automated Insulin Delivery Service
- Beta Bionics iLet Bionic Pancreas
- Animas Hypoglycemia-Hyperglycemia Minimizer
- Insulet Omnipod Horizon
Read more: 2016: A Pivotal Year for Closed Loop/Automated Insulin Delivery
I have a particular interest in Omnipod’s progress, as it is still the only tubeless insulin pump on the market. Again, from www.DiaTribe.org, reporting on Insulet’s first-ever Investor Day, January 9, 2017, Insulet shared details on their key products in development:
- “Omnipod Dash” is expected to launch by the end of 2017 and will integrate Bluetooth into the body-worn, tubeless pod, and use a transformed, locked down Android smartphone for functions currently performed on the personal diabetes manager (PDM) handheld device.
- An Omnipod System designed to be used with concentrated Lilly U500 and U200 insulin (for those with higher insulin requirements) is expected to launch in the first half of 2019 and late 2019-early 2020, respectively.
- The Omnipod Horizon Automated Glucose Control System (to automate insulin delivery with Dexcom CGM) is slated for a “late 2019” launch.
Read more: Insulet’s Omnipod Dash System to Add Touchscreen and Bluetooth
