Development of Semi-Artificial Pancreas using Natural Polymers

1型糖尿病是一种器官特异性自身免疫性疾病，其中免疫系统攻击产生胰岛素的β细胞，导致这些细胞的损失，从而导致胰岛素缺乏。它影响着全球超过1600万人。糖尿病可导致中风、肾衰竭、失明、心血管和神经疾病、糖尿病昏迷和过早死亡。聚羟基烷酸酯（PHAs）是天然存在的聚酯，由于其易于化学功能化，生物可吸收性和生物相容性而成为多功能生物材料。在这个项目中，我们的目标是创造一个半人工胰腺，它将由两个主要部分组成，一个是由PHA热塑性形成的外层保护层，一个是由PHA水凝胶中微胶囊化的含有产生胰岛素的朗格汉斯胰岛的内层。胰腺结构将被模仿，以创建一个类似的多室结构。因此，总体而言，该项目将涉及使用基于PHA的热塑性塑料和水凝胶开发生物人工胰腺，从而产生高度生物相容性的胰岛素释放医疗设备，用于有效治疗1型糖尿病。

Type 1 diabetes is an organ-specific autoimmune disease in which the immune system attacks the insulin-producing beta-cells, resulting in the loss of these cells, hence leading to insulin deficiency. It affects over 16 million people worldwide. Diabetes can lead to stroke, kidney failure, blindness, cardiovascular and nerve disease, diabetic coma, and premature mortality.Polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs) are naturally occurring polyesters which are versatile biomaterials due to their ease of chemical functionalisation, bioresorbability and biocompatibility. In this project we will aim to create a semiartificial pancreas which will constitute two main components, an outer protective layer created using PHAs in their thermoplastic form and an inner compartment containing insulin producing Islets of Langerhans microencapsulated within PHA based hydrogels. The pancreatic structure will be mimicked to create a similar multi-compartment construct. Hence, overall this project will involve the development of a Bioartificial Pancreas using PHA based thermoplastics and hydrogels leading to a highly biocompatible insulin releasing medical device for the effective treatment of Type 1 diabetes.