Transhumanist technologies are going to explode in the next two to three decades. We already have a crude artificial heart on the market. Now it appears that an artificial pancreas is just around the corner.
Today, people with diabetes have a range of technologies to help keep their blood sugar in check, including continuous monitors that can keep tabs on glucose levels throughout the day and insulin pumps that can deliver the drug. But the diabetic is still responsible for making executive decisions–when to test his blood or give himself a shot–and the system has plenty of room for human error. Now, however, researchers say that the first generations of an artificial pancreas, which would be able to make most dosing decisions without the wearer’s intervention, could be available within the next few years.
Type 1 diabetes develops when the islet cells of the human pancreas stop producing adequate amounts of insulin, leaving the body unable to regulate blood-sugar levels on its own. Left unchecked, glucose fluctuations over the long term can lead to nerve damage, blindness, stroke and heart attacks. Even among the most vigilant diabetics, large dips and surges in glucose levels are still common occurrences. “We have data on hand today that suggests that you could get much better diabetes outcomes with the computer taking the lead instead of the person with diabetes doing it all themselves,” says Aaron Kowalski, research director of the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation’s Artificial Pancreas Project.
The artificial pancreas project is good news for diabetics. However, barriers to implementation remain.
Technologically, the remaining obstacles for researchers are those of refinement–for example, constructing algorithms that are exquisitely honed to predict in which direction glucose levels are moving and at what rate. Other researchers are working on sensors that can monitor blood glucose over an extended period of time (currently, sensors must be replaced every three to eight days) and with improved accuracy.
Despite the fact that much of the technology is on the market, researchers must still prove to the FDA that their system is safe when combined with the algorithms, and that if anything goes wrong–if a sensor goes wonky or the insulin pump clogs up–the computer can sense it and either set off an alarm or turn the whole system off.
I’m irritated anytime the FDA is mentioned in a news article. Personally, it’s not clear to me that this organization has helped more people than it hurts. FDA rules slow down the medical technology development process and make it much more expensive. If I ever become a chronically ill patient, I’ll goddamn well seek the medical treatment I want regardless of FDA rules. If I have to leave the United States to get a particular treatment, so be it. I own my own life.