Evaluating the Diabeloop insulin delivery system for patients with type 1 diabetes

This study is comparing the effectiveness of two insulin delivery systems for patients with type 1 diabetes (T1D). The authors concluded that the Diabeloop system was more effective and better reduced high blood glucose levels in these patients.

Controlling blood glucose levels is an essential part of diabetes management. For patients with T1D, tight control of blood glucose levels helps lower the risk of long-term complications. Managing blood glucose levels after eating large meals or exercising can be challenging for patients. Automated insulin delivery systems can help.

Conventional insulin delivery systems are open-loop (OL). In this system, the patient wears an insulin pump that delivers insulin to the body as needed. However, the patient must manually adjust the amount of insulin with the help of a glucose monitoring device. Diabeloop is a closed-loop (CL) system that delivers the right amount of insulin automatically, without the need for manual adjustments. Whether the CL system is better at managing blood glucose levels compared to the OL for patients with T1D is under investigation.

This study had 38 adults with T1D. Patients had either a CL insulin system or an OL insulin system. Blood glucose levels were continuously monitored for 72 hours. During the study period, patients were exposed to real-life situations such as sustained exercise, copious dinners or rest situations. At night, blood glucose levels were kept within a range of 80 – 140 mg/dL. During the daytime, blood glucose levels were kept within a range of 70 – 180 mg/dL.

At night, patients using the CL system had lower blood glucose levels for significantly longer compared to patients using the OL system (63.2% vs. 40.9%). Overall, the CL system increased the amount of time that patients spent at night with lower blood glucose levels by 22.3% (1 hour and 48 minutes).

During the day, patients using the CL system spent 79.4% of the day with lower blood glucose levels compared to 64.1% in patients using the OL system. Patients using the CL system spent 17.9% of the day with very high blood glucose levels compared to 31.9% of the day in patients using the OL system.

Patients using the CL system also reported significantly more satisfaction with the system compared to patients using the OL system.

This study concluded that the Diabeloop CL insulin system significantly improved blood glucose control compared to the OL insulin system for patients with T1D.

This study had a small number of patients. More studies with longer follow-up are needed to confirm these results.