A bottom-up survey design was used to determine both positive Etoposide order and negative experiences of patients currently using CSII to define the performance characteristics they would require from a non-electronic, implantable closed loop insulin pump. A total of 360 insulin pump users completed the survey. All respondents had type

1 diabetes, were predominantly from English-speaking countries and had been diagnosed before age 34 years. Most had well controlled blood glucose (BG) according to their self-reported HbA1c results. They reported a reduction in this value after transferring to CSII from multi-dose injections. However, 70% of pump users had more than three hypoglycaemic episodes per week. Eighty percent reported self-measured BG values >10mmol/L three or more times per month; 94% of respondents considered a (non-electronic implantable) closed loop insulin pump would make their BG management easier and improve their quality of life. The majority of respondents felt there were still many disadvantages to current external insulin pumps

such as their constant MDV3100 research buy visible presence, rotation of insertion sites and skin inflammation. These shortfalls could be overcome by a device, such as INSmart, that provides a relatively instant feedback mechanism for controlling insulin release due to its proposed location in the peritoneal cavity. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons. Successful glycaemia management in diabetes requires mean blood glucose (BG) concentrations that result in HbA1c values close to the normal range, while avoiding hypoglycaemia. Although of proven efficacy, it is difficult to achieve this chronically using multidose insulin injections or open loop continuous subcutaneous insulin infusion (CSII), as evaluated in the Diabetes Control and Complications Trial (DCCT)1,2 for patients with type 1 diabetes (T1DM). The attraction of a closed loop insulin delivery system which can maintain normoglycaemia is obvious nearly to both patients and health care services that have to deal with the costs of poor diabetes control around the world.3 In order to produce an effective

closed loop system, insulin needs to be released and metabolised over an appropriate time scale to minimise fluctuations in BG levels. Several methods for accomplishing closed loop control have been developed in both human and animal models4–6 but the ‘perfect’ artificial pancreas remains elusive,7,8 because of limitations in one or more of the contributory components of a closed loop system, namely delivery devices and sensors. External insulin pumps or CSII are driven by mechanical force and provide a continuous infusion of a short-acting insulin delivered from a soft cannula under the skin. The major drawbacks to this therapy, however, are primarily the slow absorption of insulin into the plasma, the need to re-site subcutaneous (SC) cannulas every 48 hours in order to minimise the risk of tube blockages, and skin infection at the insertion sites.