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A DIY ‘bionic pancreas’ is changing diabetes care — what's next?

A community of people with type 1 diabetes got a self-built device approved. What can they offer that big companies can’t?
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  1. Liam Drew

    1. Liam Drew is a freelance writer based near London, UK.

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Close-up of a diabetic person holding a smartphone showing an insulin app

A person with type 1 diabetes demonstrates a smartphone application that automatically doses insulin through a pump. Credit: Patrick Hertzog/AFP via Getty

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Ten years ago, a tech-savvy group of people with type 1 diabetes (T1D) decided to pursue a DIY approach to their own treatment. They knew that a fairly straightforward piece of software could make their lives much easier, but no companies were developing it quickly enough.

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Nature 620, 940-941 (2023)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-023-02648-9

References

  1. Wu, Z. et al. Diabetes 72 (Suppl. 1), 274-OR (2023).

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  5. Petruzelkova, L. et al. Diabetes Technol. Ther. 25, 315–323 (2023).

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