An artificial pancreas developed with the help of staff and patients at Addenbrooke's Hospital will help tens of thousands of people with type one diabetes.

The ground-breaking device, pioneered by Professor Roman Hovorka, is called the CamAPS FX app and continuously monitor's a person's blood glucose levels, then automatically adjusts the amount of insulin given to them through a pump.

It is the only device that has been fully developed in the UK, and the only one suitable for people who are pregnant.

Professor Hovorka said: "It is very exciting that a device developed in Cambridge with the help of local experts and local people will now become accessible to patients all over the country.

"It will enable them to spend less time having to focus on managing their condition and worrying about the blood sugar levels, and more time getting on with their lives."

For Professor Hovorka, this is the culmination of more than 20 years' work studying the condition and collaborating with colleagues.

He works as professor of metabolic technology at the Institute of Metabolic Science, and his work is facilitated by the NIHR Cambridge Clinical Research Facility, Cambridge Clinical Research Centre.

In December 2021 a team from Addenbrooke's and the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospitals successfully used the artificial pancreas's closed-loop system, along with diluted insulin, to treat a seven-month-old baby.

In January of the same year a similar trial had been held for adults living with type two diabetes.

Last year the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) recommended systems such as the CamAPS FX for use in managing type one diabetes.

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There are currently 269,095 people in England living with type one diabetes, and regional NHS systems will now start identifying those who could benefit from the artificial pancreas.

The technology means some people with the condition will no longer need to inject themselves with insulin.

NICE recommends the devices should be rolled out to children and young people under 18 with type one diabetes, pregnant women with type one diabetes, and adults with type one diabetes who have an HbA1c of 58 mmol/mol (7.5 per cent) or higher.