A NEW "game changer" artificial pancreas that could dramatically transform the lives of people with type 1 diabetes is being trialled in Australia.
Leanne Foster, 47, who has had diabetes for 36 years, is the first Australian adult to use the hybrid closed loop system to continuously monitor her blood glucose levels and automatically adjust delivery of insulin to keep her glucose levels stable in a healthy range.
Ms Foster noticed immediate results after she began using the new system in early July as part of a study run by University of Melbourne Associate Professor David O'Neal at St Vincent's Hospital Melbourne.
Patients at seven Australian hospitals will be part of the trial, going about their lives for six months while attached to mobile phone-sized insulin pumps linked to a glucose sensor inserted into the fat just under the skin over the abdomen.
The sensor sends glucose information back to the pump every five minutes and the pump calculates how much insulin to deliver.
Funded by the Australian Research Council and administered by the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, the study will evaluate the impact of the artificial pancreas patients' glucose levels, quality of sleep and psychological well-being.
Associate Professor O'Neal described the new device as a "game changer" because it measured glucose levels so frequently and adjusted insulin delivery accordingly.
Previous studies focused on short term results showed automated computerised insulin delivery resulted in better glucose control than conventional treatments.
"While the new device does not represent a cure for diabetes, it does have the potential to very significantly improve control of glucose levels, thereby reducing damage to the body resulting from glucose levels outside a healthy range, and also improving the quality of life of people with type 1 diabetes," Professor O'Neal said.
Ms Foster said the system meant her blood sugar was not dropping low, and she was experiencing less "brain fog" than when she used an insulin pump without the closed loop function.
"It's very exciting," she said. "It's amazing technology. My blood sugar levels are the closest they have been to a non-diabetic person in 36 years.
"I feel better and a lot more alert."
Ms Foster said she hoped the study would lead to closed loop system being approved for subsidised use in Australia.
Hospitals participating in the study are St Vincent's Hospital Melbourne, Royal Melbourne Hospital and Alfred Hospital and Baker Institute in Victoria; Westmead Hospital, NSW; Royal Hobart Hospital, Tasmania; Repatriation Hospital, South Australia; and Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital, Western Australia.