FORGETDIABETES: a radically new approach to diabetes treatment
A new FET project working on an Artificial automated pancreas for the treatment of type 1 diabetes
Current therapy for type 1 diabetes (T1D) requires the patient to compute and self-inject insulin, resulting in multiple daily procedures with a therapeutic effectiveness highly dependent on the patient’s skill. It is estimated that only about 50 % of patients meet the targets recommended by clinical guidelines. While new technologies have improved the quality of life for T1D patients, the therapy remains demanding and severely affects everyday life.
The EU-funded FET Proactive project FORGETDIABETES is introducing a radically new approach to T1D treatment with the development of an immuno-optimised, fully-implantable, fully-automated, artificial pancreas for intraperitoneal hormone delivery, enabling an optimal glycemic control for T1D subjects. The long-lasting system will rely on a physiological glucose sensing and insulin delivery system controlled by personalized adaptive algorithms with advanced self-diagnostic capabilities.
FORGETDIABEES will free T1Dsubjects from therapeutic actions and from related psychological burden. The bionic pancreas will become a life-condition (like wearing glasses), allowing subjects to live just as everybody else.
The project started on October 1st 2020 and will run for 54 months, until March 2025. The coordinating institution is Università degli Studi di Padova, Padova, Italy, and the team is composed by : University of Padova, Padova (Italy), Department of Women & Child Health; Sant’Anna School of Advanced Studies, Pisa (Italy), Institute of Biorobotics, and WaveComm, SME, Siena, (Italy) for bioingenering developments; Lifecare, SME, Trondheim (Norway) for the devleloping a miniaturized implantablel sensor; Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Montpellier (France) ; Pfützner Science & Health Institute GmbH, Mannheim (Germany), and Forschungsinstitut der Diabetes-Akademie Bad MergentheimBad (Germany) for the preclinical & clinical developments, and evaluation of the psychological impact.
Background information
FET-Open and FET Proactive are now part of the Enhanced European Innovation Council (EIC) Pilot (specifically the Pathfinder), the new home for deep-tech research and innovation in Horizon 2020, the EU funding programme for research and innovation.