Artificial Pancreas Center

The Artificial Pancreatic Center (APC) is dedicated to improving glycemic management through the development and testing of glucose-sensing technologies and drug delivery systems to ultimately achieve a fully automated artificial endocrine pancreas. Over the years the laboratory has gained expertise in development and testing of medical devices using a bench to bedside approach. The laboratory has close collaborations with engineers from industry and other academic faculty and uses small and large animals to implant and test hardware. The laboratory faculty have been training graduate students who become intimately involved in numerous projects while developing skills in surgery, implantation biology, pharmacology, study design and biostatistics. 

An artificial endocrine pancreas consists of a continuous glucose monitoring system, an insulin infusion pump, a glucose/glucagon infusion pump and a computer controller. Such a system will decrease errors in insulin delivery, eliminate the risk for hypoglycemia and improve a diabetic person’s quality of life. Intensive insulin therapy and near-normal blood glucose control has been shown to decrease morbidity and mortality leading to improved long-term clinical outcome and decreased cost.

Our multidisciplinary team of physicians, engineers, scientists, nurses, dieticians, pharmacists and veterinarians are currently developing systems for both ambulatory patients with diabetes and hospitalized patients with diabetes or stress-induced hyperglycemia.