De Montfort University (DMU) has been selected to join a handful of organisations that will be showcased at an international summit highlighting the best of British business.
Professor Joan Taylor, who has dedicated more than 20 years of her life developing an artificial pancreas, has been invited to display her work at the British Business Embassy’s Healthcare & Life Sciences summit on 2 August.
The summit is one of 17 global business conferences that will be held at Lancaster House during the six weeks of the Olympics and Paralympics and is part of the Government’s GREAT campaign which aims to show why Britain is such a great place to visit, study, work and invest.
Hosted by Lord Green, Minister for UK Trade & Investment, the Healthcare & Life Sciences conference will be looking at how to rise to the healthcare challenges of the next decade.
The artificial pancreas is currently being developed at DMU and the university is currently seeking an industrial or commercial partner to help fund the next stages of the research.
It is designed to be implanted into the body between the lowest rib and the hip and would be topped up with insulin every few weeks.
Glucose levels are normally controlled by the hormone insulin, which is released by the pancreas when required. People who have diabetes either do not produce insulin, produce insufficient insulin or the insulin they do produce does not work properly.
The artificial pancreas would contain a gel barrier invented and patented by Professor Taylor which liquefies and lets insulin out when the glucose in the body rises. The insulin then feeds into the veins around the gut and then into the vein to the liver, mimicking the normal process for a person with a health pancreas.
As the insulin lowers the glucose level in the body, the gel reacts by hardening again and stopping the supply.
Joining Professor Taylor at the conference will be Bruce Renfrew and Michael Phillips from Renfrew Group International. The company have been involved in the design and engineering of the device.
Professor Taylor said: “This is a great opportunity to showcase a product which has been developed in collaboration between industry and academia and we are honoured to have been selected to represent our innovative medical device to a global audience at the most prestigious even in its field.”
Posted on Tuesday 31st July 2012