Recently in February, diabetes patients were given fresh hope that artificial pancreas would soon be a reality for those totally dependent on insulin. One of the groups leading this initiative, led by Dr Damiano of the Department of Biomedical Engineering at Boston University, has now taken their initial work a step further using their device in patients in unrestricted outpatient conditions. Twenty adults and 32 adolescents were studied, using their system which involves two pumps, one containing insulin and one containing glucagon both responding to signals from an implanted glucose sensor. The mean plasma glucose during the 5 day period with the bionic pancreas was 7.4 mm/l in adults and 7.7 mm/l in adolescents and with a lower percentage of time spent with low glucoses defined as less than 3.9 mm/l. It works. Dr Martin Press, of London Medical, who has worked for years in islet cell transplants commented: