Diabetes, hypoglycemia, anaphylactic shock … This tiny implant implant could change everything in a critical situation

Diabetes is a disease that can be particularly complicated for patients, the body no longer managing to regulate blood sugar levels. For type 1 diabetics, as well as type 2 diabetics treated with insulin, the problem is not only to prevent blood sugar to be too high (hyperglycemia). It can also become too low (hypoglycemia), and this in a very rapid way, making the person increasingly weak and confused.

In case of severe hypoglycemia, the patient can lose consciousness, putting his life in danger. Not all diabetics do not feel hypoglycaemia in time to act. When they are no longer able to swallow sugar, it becomes necessary to inject a hormone called glucagon, which encourages the liver to produce glucose. However, it is not always possible, especially if the person is alone, or if hypoglycemia occurs overnight. To solve this problem, researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have created an implant with a tank with glucagon.

A technological response to hypoglycemic emergencies

In an article published in the journal Biomedical Engineering naturescientists explain that they have designed the implant to release a quantity of glucagon in the blood after being activated from a distance. It can therefore be activated by the patient he even if he realizes that he is in danger but can no longer resume himself, or by a loved one. But it will also be possible to connect it to a blood sugar sensor so that the implant is automatically activated when blood sugar goes under a certain threshold.

One of the major obstacles is the low life of glucagon in the liquid state. In the form of powder, it can be kept much longer, at body temperature. Each implant can contain one to four doses, and the tank is closed with a nickel and titanium memory alloy. To release the glucagon, simply heat the alloy to 40 ° C; He then resumed his initial form, opening the tank. In a test on mice, it was enough for 10 minutes for blood sugar to stabilize.

Beyond diabetes: the versatility of the implant for medical emergencies, including anaphylactic shock

In addition, the implant is not limited to glucagon. The researchers tested the implant on mice with epinephrine in the form of a powder, a synthetic equivalent of adrenaline which is administered in the event of a severe allergic reaction, anaphylactic shock. Just like with glucagon, the medication released by the implant acted in ten minutes.

For the time being, researchers have limited their experiences to four weeks, but they plan to test the implant for a year, and hope that its lifespan could reach several years before having to replace it. Clinical trials (on humans) could start in three years.