From 1974-1978, I watched “The Six Million Dollar Man.”  The premise of the show was that astronaut Steve Austin played by Lee Majors was rebuilt with bionic parts after a severe crash.  He worked for the government to stop the bad guys.

So, when I read about a “bionic” pancreas in a recent publication (NEJM 2014; 371: 313-25), I was definitely interested.  In this study, the bionic pancreas was a “fully automated, bihormonal” (administered both insulin and glucagon) device.  It consisted of an iPhone 4S and a G4 Platinum continuous glucose monitor which were connected by a custom hardware interface.  This study was feasible due to the availability of accurate continuous glucose monitoring allowing the development of a device to more precisely regulate glycemic control.

In this study, both adults (n=20) and adolescents (n=32) with type 1 diabetes were followed closely with either the bionic pancreas or a insulin pump.

Key finding: “as compared with an insulin pump, a wearable, automated, bihormonal, bionic pancreas improved mean glycemic levels.”

Bottomline: A bionic pancreas has the potential to be a significant upgrade from a standard insulin pump –patients with type 1 diabetes may no longer have to think about how to adjust their blood glucose.  While this bionic pancreas does not reach the promise of the 1970s show of ‘we can build him better than he was before,’ it does show that bionic parts and prosthetics are improving.  For those who want a video explanation –here’s a link to 3-minute video explanation from the inventor from Boston University.