New hope for diabetics - successful finalization of the PanaMEA project

In Germany, around 7 million people suffer from diabetes mellitus type 1 or type 2 (DM-T1, DM-T2). In addition to the heavy burden on the diabetics themselves, there are considerable treatment costs, which represent a major challenge for society as a whole.

Research efforts are addressing a reliable continuous measurement of blood glucose that runs automatically without the patient's involvement. Current systems are based on recording the value, e.g. via implanted electrochemical needle sensors or optical sensors. These have a limited service life and require regular recalibration. As a result, there is still a need to develop new approaches for continuous glucose measurement in DM medical care.

As part of the PanaMEA research project, mfd Diagnostics GmbH has made a major contribution to the development of an intelligent implant that can be used to measure the glucose-dependent electrical activity of the insulin-producing islets of Langerhans in the pancreas.

To this end, mfd Diagnostics GmbH, in cooperation with the Natural and Medical Sciences Institute at the University of Tübingen (NMI), the Institute for Microelectronics Stuttgart (IMS), the University Hospital of Medicine Tübingen (UKT), the University Hospital Maria Hilf Mönchengladbach, CorTec GmbH and PFÜTZNER Science& Health Institute GmbH, developed a new type of sensor implant and evaluated it in animal experiments. The focus was on establishing a patient-friendly surgical implantation technique and testing the subchronically implanted sensor to prove the functionality of the permanent and continuous measurement of blood glucose levels in the pig as animal model, which is anatomically and functionally close to humans. This intelligent implant opens the way to determine blood glucose levels not with the help of artificial biochemical and error-prone measuring principles, as is usually the case, but by directly recording the signals inside the pancreas with the help of highly functional sensors. This also makes it possible to evaluate the signals directly and use them to control downstream regulation systems, such as insulin pumps.

The cooperation project was financially supported by the BMBF as part of the KMU-innovativ: Medizintechnik funding program. We would like to take this opportunity to thank the BMBF once again for this necessary funding and the intensive support provided by the VDI Technology Center Berlin.

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