A research and innovation firm in London, Ont. has created a new device that could help improve the lives of those living with Type 1 diabetes.
Regenerative medicine company Sernova has created cell pouches that they say also takes them one step closer to finding a cure for diabetes.
"It's kind of mimicking a natural pancreas," Sernova's clinical program leader, Delfina Siroen, explained in an interview with CTV London.
According to Siroen, the device is placed under a patient’s skin and naturally grows into the tissue, allowing insulin-producing cells placed inside the pouch to flow through it to blood vessels.
'The cells link up to the blood vessels and they communicate back and forth just like in diabetes your pancreas would and your insulin-producing cells would communicate with the blood," said Siroen. "Knowing there are sugars in the blood, the cells react and will release the insulin necessary to control the blood sugar."
She says these pouches “could be a cure for people with insulin-dependent diabetes."
A new clinical trial currently underway at the University of Chicago is using the cell pouches to test dosages and efficacy in patients.
The study will take approximately three years to complete and, by then, Siroen says she hopes that the cell pouches will be closer to becoming widely used.
"Anyone with diabetes could then go into the doctors office and receive the cell pouch and all diabetic patients could be treated," said Siroen.
