MiniMed's Paradigm® REAL-TIME Insulin Pump and Continuous Glucose Monitoring System, a Step towards Artificial Pancreas Technology

Filed in archive Diagnostics , Treatment on April 19, 2006

The USFDA recently approved Medtronic Diabetes' MiniMed Paradigm® REAL-TIME Insulin Pump and Continuous Glucose Monitoring System, a new technology that will allow patients take immediate corrective or preventive action to maintain healthy glucose levels and delay or prevent diabetes-related complications, including coma, blindness, kidney failure, amputation, impotence, and heart disease.

In lieu of this novel product approval, the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation International (JDRF), the world's leading charitable funder of research on type 1 diabetes and its complications; believes that this is a critical step in expediting the development of artificial pancreas technologies which is JDRF's current major research priority.

"This represents another important step forward in diabetes treatment. By combining a sensor and a pump, people with diabetes will be able to take relatively immediate action to adjust their glucose levels," said Aaron Kowalski, PhD, Director of Strategic Research Projects at JDRF. "Research clearly shows that the risks associated with diabetes complications are often directly tied to close control.

With technological advancements, diabetes patients will be able to maintain healthier glucose levels and, as a result, prevent or delay devastating complications associated with diabetes."

Read the full press release.

Photo Credit: Medtronic Diabetes