(ANSA) – ROME, FEBRUARY 21 – These devices have also been available in Italy for some years and to date there are around 18,000 patients treated with an artificial pancreas under a reimbursement regime. Among these, however, there are very few children under the age of 6: in fact, there is only one model available on the market; the device has been available for a short time; moreover, in this age group there is a strong variability which, according to experts, would require greater personalization of the devices.
On the basis of this unsatisfied need, for some years now, patients and associations, with the support of experts, have worked on the development of home-made solutions, modifying the available devices and developing insulin administration algorithms. Starting in adults, this trend quickly caught on with children.
Now experts are asking for solutions that can combine the need for devices of this type in children with their safety. “These are homemade systems and not without risk, albeit limited, such as over- and under-dosing of insulin. These devices are often built following the open source instructions of projects downloadable from the Internet and programmed and customized to make them work on themselves or their children”, explains Cherubini, who invites us to speed up research in this field. “Obviously it’s safer to wait for clinical trials of devices awaiting authorization than to do it yourself while waiting.
But the opportunity is that this phenomenon, which can no longer be ignored, accelerates research to put low-cost devices based on new technologies on the official market, which contribute to improving the lives of the little ones and their parents in particular”. (ANSA) ).
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