working on a “smart capsule” that
promises to end the misery of daily insulin
injections for type 1 diabetics, reports The
Daily Telegraph. At present, those with the
disease must monitor their blood sugar
with frequent finger prick tests, and inject
themselves with insulin when it gets too
high. But under the new system, sufferers
would take insulin-loaded capsules with
outer casings that dissolve in the presence
of glucose – enabling the body, in effect, to
dose itself. The system has the potential to
transform the lives of the 400,000 people
in the UK with type 1 diabetes. However,
clinical trials are still years away, and rival
systems could become established in the
meantime. For example, a “smart patch”
that monitors glucose levels and delivers
insulin automatically, has already been
successfully tested on mice in the US.
