Innovative insulin pump reduces hypoglycemia in new trial

An insulin pump fitted with pioneering technology has shown to significantly reduce hypoglycemia during a recent study.
The t:slim X2 Insulin Pump is the smallest pump currently available in the US and provides remote feature updates to its users. As yet, the pump is not available in the UK.
The pump is the first continuous glucose monitor device fitted with innovative technology known as Basal-IQ, a predictive low glucose suspend feature. This technology automatically suspends insulin delivery when blood sugar levels drop too low, resuming delivery once glucose levels start to rise again.
The PROLOG (PLGS for Reduction Of Low Glucose) trial compared the t:slim X2 system to a standard CGM-integrated t:slim X2 pump, not fitted with the automated insulin suspensio, across three weeks.
The trial involved 103 peopled aged between six and 72 with type 1 diabetes who were monitored at four research centres across the United States.
Dr Greg Forlenza, principal investigator study at the Barbra Davis Center study site, revealed: “Tandem’s t:slim X2 Insulin Pump with Basal-IQ proved easy to use, reduced time spent in hypoglycemia and improved time in range. These results are especially impressive given the study participants started out very well controlled, with a mean HbA1c of 7.3%.
“Participants also reported a high level of confidence using the system without a significant training burden to get started. With increased availability and patient use of automated insulin delivery systems, we expect to see improvements in short-term complications such as hypoglycemia, and a decrease in patients’ daily burden of diabetes and long-term complications.”
Kim Blickenstaff, president and CEO of Tandem Diabetes Care the manufacturers of the device, said: “Reducing the risk of hypoglycemia has been the most requested feature of automated insulin delivery in our market research, due to the severity of the complications when left untreated.
“The data from this study supports our mission to improve the lives of people with diabetes through new innovations, such as the t:slim X2 Pump with Basal-IQ technology.”
The findings of the study have been presented at the 11th Annual Conference on Advanced Technologies and Treatments for Diabetes (ATTD) in Vienna.