Engineering of a Perfusion Chamber for High-Density Cultures of Endocrine Pancreatic Islets for Insulin Production

2010年，国际糖尿病联合会估计全球有2.85亿人患有糖尿病。这包括300多万加拿大人，由于一些因素，这一数字正在急剧增加。人们和加拿大医疗系统的财政负担是巨大的(130亿美元/年)。在1型和2型糖尿病中都观察到了胰岛素产生细胞(β细胞)的丧失。胰岛细胞移植可以恢复糖尿病患者达到正常血糖所需的功能β细胞数量。然而，这一策略遇到了许多问题，包括标准的胰岛移植方案不可用，分离后胰岛产量不足，移植后β细胞凋亡。该计划的长期目标是开发一个小室，以支持高密度培养内分泌胰岛以生产胰岛素。

In 2010, the International Diabetes Federation estimated that 285 millions people worldwide have diabetes. This includes more than three millions Canadians, and these numbers are increasing dramatically owing to a number of factors. The financial burden on people and on the Canadian healthcare system is enormous ($13 billion/year). The loss of insulin-producing cells (beta cells) has been observed in both type 1 and type 2 diabetes. Pancreatic islet cell transplantation can restore the required mass of functional beta-cells to achieve normoglycemia in diabetics. However, this strategy has encountered many problems including the unavailability of a standard islet transplant protocol, insufficient islet yields after isolation and beta-cell apoptosis following transplantation. The LONG-TERM PROGRAM OBJECTIVE is to develop a chamber to support a high-density culture of endocrine pancreatic islets for insulin production.