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MIT's smart implant dispenses life-saving drug when diabetics need it most | A glucagon implant features a drug reservoir sealed with an alloy that changes shape when heated, so it can dispense its contents on demand
Hypoglycemia – a condition in which low blood glucose levels can cause you to feel dizzy, weak, and shaky – can catch you by surprise. It often occurs due to excess insulin, whether it's produced by your body or if you've injected too much of it.
To counteract this condition, a team of engineers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) has developed a coin-sized device that can be safely implanted in the body to automatically deliver a dose of glucagon when a sensor notices blood glucose levels dropping too low – and potentially save the user's life. This device could be a boon for hypoglycemic people who can't administer glucagon injections on their own, as well as those who suddenly encounter extreme cases of the condition, which makes it hard to swallow any edibles that could help raise blood sugar quickly. It can also make life easier for those who live with diabetes and use continuous glucose monitors, as it could negate the need to inject glucagon or even manually trigger it – the device can be designed to receive signals from those wearables and deliver a dose without the patient ever having to intervene.
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