Artificial Pancreas is in the news again. This time the press release is from Animas. Yesterday the news was of an article in the New England Journal of Medicine.
Everyone's favorite bard said, "A Rose by any other name would smell as sweet." Sorry Bill, I am beginning to think you were wrong. I think the first steps of AP smell sweeter with different names.
My experience talking with other parents is that the term Artificial Pancreas is all wrapped up expectations of it doing what they really, really want. That is magically managing diabetes so well they don't need to worry about it. Being reasonably smart people, who are regularly frustrated by their child's diabetes varying in inexplicable ways, the discrepancies of life, liberty to eat and CGMs, they conclude that the present technology can't deliver that magic.
No kidding. It can't.
There is a whole bit on this in Forbes by David Kliff, Stretching The Truth About An Artificial Pancreas to which others and I replied.
Here is what matters to me as a dad of T1D kids - the NEJM article says the first steps of AP can lessen the number of hypos and keep kids in range longer. This is where the Animas release kicks in, remember the Animas press release? This is a story about the Animas press release.
In the Animas release they don't call it AP. Go ahead go read it. Search it for the word Artificial. It ain't there.
The story is about, "a first-generation closed loop insulin delivery system." I will give you that AFGCLIDS is no rose. They got that. They call it HHM for Hypoglycemia-Hyperglycemia Minimizer. I would call it Hypblurglycimic Minimizing System. Then I would go for a whole Gilbert and Sullivan operetta - HMS Pancreas. But I digress.
Like LGS (Low Glucose Suspend) the idea isn't to manage precisely to target. The goal is to help minimize bad sh*t from happening. Preventing bad sh*t, is a good thing.
Progress happens incrementally. Regulators are gonna be more comfortable regulating incrementally and payers will probably be more likely to pay if academia (see NEJM above) can show incrementally better outcomes and hopefully incremental savings in the reduction of expensive hospital visits.
Staying in range more means better long term outcomes. That may not be actually magic but it is a nice parlor trick.
Oh and my apologizes to centuries of British culture.
Everyone's favorite bard said, "A Rose by any other name would smell as sweet." Sorry Bill, I am beginning to think you were wrong. I think the first steps of AP smell sweeter with different names.
My experience talking with other parents is that the term Artificial Pancreas is all wrapped up expectations of it doing what they really, really want. That is magically managing diabetes so well they don't need to worry about it. Being reasonably smart people, who are regularly frustrated by their child's diabetes varying in inexplicable ways, the discrepancies of life, liberty to eat and CGMs, they conclude that the present technology can't deliver that magic.
No kidding. It can't.
There is a whole bit on this in Forbes by David Kliff, Stretching The Truth About An Artificial Pancreas to which others and I replied.
Here is what matters to me as a dad of T1D kids - the NEJM article says the first steps of AP can lessen the number of hypos and keep kids in range longer. This is where the Animas release kicks in, remember the Animas press release? This is a story about the Animas press release.
In the Animas release they don't call it AP. Go ahead go read it. Search it for the word Artificial. It ain't there.
The story is about, "a first-generation closed loop insulin delivery system." I will give you that AFGCLIDS is no rose. They got that. They call it HHM for Hypoglycemia-Hyperglycemia Minimizer. I would call it Hypblurglycimic Minimizing System. Then I would go for a whole Gilbert and Sullivan operetta - HMS Pancreas. But I digress.
Like LGS (Low Glucose Suspend) the idea isn't to manage precisely to target. The goal is to help minimize bad sh*t from happening. Preventing bad sh*t, is a good thing.
Progress happens incrementally. Regulators are gonna be more comfortable regulating incrementally and payers will probably be more likely to pay if academia (see NEJM above) can show incrementally better outcomes and hopefully incremental savings in the reduction of expensive hospital visits.
Staying in range more means better long term outcomes. That may not be actually magic but it is a nice parlor trick.
Oh and my apologizes to centuries of British culture.
Posts
Well said. It will happen, but it won't be available tomorrow. Thanks
ReplyDeleteSometimes, word uses is what it comes down to most. Artificial does turn us off, even though I still refer to this as the "Animas version of the AP." Ironic. Anyhow, I'm encouraged by what Animas is doing. I'm also encouraged because we'll likely see the MM LGS very soon this year, and I'm excited about that being first because the LGS-device approval will likely pave the way for this Animas system down the road. We'll see if the next MM version that has a predictive component will be first or about the same time as this Animas one. Lots of moving parts, but I think our future is full of pieces that will make this AP or whatever it's called system more practical and affordable - faster insulins, stable glucagon, dual-chambered pump, more accurate CGM, integration of devices. All very exciting stuff in the coming years!!
ReplyDeleteI like how you referenced Shakespeare, the Spice Girls, and Arlo Guthrie in the same article. I don't think that's ever been done before!
ReplyDeleteI also like how Animas is calling this device "First Generation". Taking incremental steps towards the ultimate goal is a better approach, in my opinion, than trying to build the perfect machine all at once. Remember, even the iPad - as revolutionary as it is - is just a gradual evolution of an old music player that somewhat resembles a Dexcom receiver.
BaHAaha
ReplyDeleteYeah Scott can you believe how much apple ripped off Dexcom?