Mimicking Nature: the Animas Insulin Pump and Monitoring Device

For decades, the diabetic community has been tantalized by medical technology promising a cure for Type I diabetes. While recent research with rats shows provise for an easier transplant of the islets of Langerhans inside the pancreas to restart insulin production bythe body, an actual cure is still far away. In the meantime, J&J's Animas division has just completed Phase II trials of a device that combines continuous glucose monitoring with an insulin pump. In effect, it functions as an artificial pancreas albeit one that sits in a small box the size of a cell phone that is attached to one's side.  

While we wait for stem cell research to uncover the cure, the Animas technology is a welcome development. As an active, athletic diabetic, I am still leery of wearing something so big on my side while I am fighting for rebounds on the basketball court, but I love the idea of durable technology looking after me at night to ensure that I avoid a hypoglycemic low.