MIT researchers are developing an implantable device that houses insulin-producing islet cells, aiming to let type 1 diabetes patients control blood sugar without daily insulin shots. The device encapsulates the cells to shield them from immune attack and includes an on-board oxygen generator that splits water vapor in the body into oxygen (with hydrogen diffusing away).
In the latest study, published in Device, the team made the device more waterproof, more crack-resistant, and boosted its wireless power delivery so the oxygen generator can keep cells alive longer. In mice and rats, the encapsulated islets survived at least 90 days and produced enough insulin to keep blood sugar in a healthy range. Stem-cell-derived islets also worked, though they didn’t fully reverse diabetes yet.
The researchers hope to extend device life to up to two years and see the platform as a way to deliver other protein therapies—antibodies, enzymes, clotting factors—so drugs could be made inside the body rather than infused repeatedly