I was recently made aware of a middle-aged male diabetic who is currently testing a type of implantable pump. From what I understand, the pump was surgically implanted and he uses a remote transmitter to instruct the pump as to how much insulin to secrete. Are you aware of this? What more can you tell me?

Human trials of a subcutaneous insulin pump have been underway for several years. There are two reports from French groups on the use of implantable pumps which delivered the insulin into the peritoneal cavity; but seemed to offer no special advantages except some reduction in the incidence of hypoglycemia. In one of the studies the average in situ life of the was about three years. No implantable insulin pump has yet been approved by the FDA for use in the U.S.

For now, the emphasis is on combining the very sophisticated modern pumps with a subcutaneous glucose sensor into a single external unit. It is likely to be several years yet though before absolutely fail-safe systems can be devised to warrant linking the sensor directly to the pump controls.

DOB