Harvard researchers report positive trial results with artificial pancreas smartphone app

The results of a new clinical trial have shown the safety and efficacy of the interoperable Artificial Pancreas System smartphone app (iAPS), which can interface wirelessly with leading continuous glucose monitors (CGM), insulin pump devices, and decision-making algorithms. The clinical trial and the app, which runs on an unlocked smartphone, are described in an article published in Diabetes Technology & Therapeutics (DTT).

Eyal Dassau, Harvard University (Cambridge, MA), Sansum Diabetes Research Institute (Santa Barbara, CA), and Joslin Diabetes Center (Boston, MA), and colleagues from these institutions and Labrasoft LLC (Leander, TX) coauthored the article entitled "Design and Clinical Evaluation of the Interoperable Artificial Pancreas System (iAPS) Smartphone App: Interoperable Components with Modular Design for Progressive Artificial Pancreas Research and Development."

The Artificial Pancreas phase, compared to the Sensor-Augmented Pump phase, trended toward improved time in the target glucose range (70-180 mg/dL) and yielded a statistically significant reduction in time below 70 mg/dL.

"Interoperability is so important with artificial pancreas systems, such that patients and their providers will have a choice for ongoing care of the best CGM and algorithm that fit each patient's needs. I applaud the researchers evaluating the clinical applications of such systems," says DTT Editor-in-Chief Satish Garg, MD, Professor of Medicine and Pediatrics at the University of Colorado Denver (Aurora).