127. Bionic Pancreas, Mental Benefits of Blue Spaces, Untethered Exoskeleton

Show Notes: <p><a href='https://archive.ph/nd5Sj#selection-317.0-322.0'>A bionic pancreas could solve one of the biggest challenges of diabetes</a> | MIT Technology Review (01:02)</p> <ul><li style="font-weight:400;"> <p>In a recent trial, a bionic pancreas that automatically delivers insulin proved more effective than pumps or injections at lowering blood glucose levels in people with type 1 diabetes.</p> <ul><li style="font-weight:400;"> <p>Type 1 diabetes is a serious condition that causes a person’s level of glucose, or sugar, to become too high because the pancreas can’t produce enough insulin</p> </li> <li style="font-weight:400;"> <p>Needs to be monitored and requires insulin intake every day.</p> </li> </ul> </li> <li style="font-weight:400;"> <p>But maybe this bionic pancreas, which is a credit card-sized device called an iLet, could alleviate that constant monitoring</p> <ul><li style="font-weight:400;"> <p>It monitors a person’s levels around the clock and automatically delivers insulin when needed through a tiny cannula, a thin tube inserted into the body. </p> </li> <li style="font-weight:400;"> <p>Worn constantly, generally on the abdomen.</p> </li> <li style="font-weight:400;"> <p>Determines all insulin doses based on the user’s weight, and the user can’t adjust the doses. </p> </li> </ul> </li> <li style="font-weight:400;"> <p>A Harvard Medical School team has submitted its findings from the study to the FDA in the hopes of eventually bringing the product to market in the US. </p> <ul><li style="font-weight:400;"> <p>Provided 219 people with type 1 diabetes who had used insulin for at least a year with a bionic pancreas device for 13 weeks. </p> </li> <li style="font-weight:400;"> <p>Compared their blood sugar levels with those of 107 diabetic people who used other insulin delivery methods</p> </li> </ul> </li> <li style="font-weight:400;"> <p>The blood sugar levels of the bionic pancreas group fell from 7.9% to 7.3%, while the standard care group’s levels remained steady at 7.7%. </p> <ul><li sty