Medtronic MiniMed is a Wearable Artificial Pancreas


minimed1Wearable tech is taking off, and we get new smartwatches and headsets weekly. But theres one area that’s vital to our lives that wearable technology is also helping. That area is medicine. One particular disease that can be devastating to many people across the world is diabetes. Not only is it a terrible disease, but it is also a lot of work to manage, and requires a number of regular insulin injections. That’s why Minneapolis based company Medtronics is trying to make diabetes a little easier to manage. How are they doing this? Well, through a wearable technology device of course! The device is called the MiniMed, by Medtronics.

Essentially, the device is an all in one diabetes management system, and it can perform a number of tasks that the wearer would otherwise have to do manually. Firstly, it constantly monitors your glucose levels, and can decrease the flow of insulin based on that. Almost like what a real pancreas would do, except for the fact that the insulin level is not increased in the event of more blood sugar.

Of course there are already insulin pumps and glucose monitoring devices on the market, but there has not been a device that combines the two until now.

Not only can it monitor glucose levels and pump insulin, but it can help prevent a diabetic coma too. Essentially, insulin helps to decrease the amount of sugar in a persons blood, but if there is too much insulin, it can cause the blood to not have enough sugar, and blood sugar levels to fall too low. This is what a diabetic coma is. In the event of blood sugar levels falling dangerously low, the device will automatically switch off for two hours, stoping the flow of insulin and allowing the blood sugar level to increase again. This will help prevent diabetic comas.

The device has just recently been approved by the FDA (pre-government shut down), and Medtronics has stated that they are going to be mass producing the device in the next couple of weeks, for a release in the very near future. The MiniMed is sure to be a huge help for those suffering from diabetes, and could help manage diabetes and even prevent diabetic comas.