Background
Isla Technologies’ mission is to develop a minimally invasive cellular implant therapy to treat Type 1 Diabetes (T1D). Patients with Type 1 Diabetes need regular insulin injections to stay healthy since their pancreas’ Islets of Langerhans have limited or no functionality. Isla’s solution is to directly add living islets to the patients body via their patented intravascular bioarticial implant. The stent based device eliminates the need for constant monitoring and blood draws along with the complicated calculations and expensive insulin injections.
Isla partnered with Sirius, combining their scientific research and expertise in islet technology with Sirius’ expertise in engineering and rapid prototype development. Our teams worked together to bridge science and engineering to form an implant ready to deliver over 500,000 living cells in a single implant to patients. Sirius’ expertise in Nitinol shape-setting and membrane coating technology resulted in a proprietary bioartificial pancreas device that can be implanted into the cardiovascular system. After implantation, the cells within the device sense changes in glucose and secrete insulin in response while being protected from the immune system. The device is meant to function for years improving patient’s glycemic control and quality of life.
Sirius engineering has designed the mechanism of transport: the implant and catheter delivery system. It must be loaded with cells, sealed to prevent contamination and rejection, and then placed in the body using a delivery device. Numerous biological tests and equipment were developed by Sirius to test the limits of the cells and improve their storage and efficacy. Sirius tested these devices and developed the surgical procedure in multiple preclinical studies that demonstrated the safety and effectiveness of the implant and accessories.
Development at glance
Microfluidics experiments were developed and run for multiple weeks at a time to characterize cell-line and implant robustness
Islets require special care to transplant. Every step of the membrane process was carefully designed to prevent loss and maintain health.
Diffusion experiments and equipment are run to determine ideal materials for use within the implant.
It is not enough to merely keep the islets alive. This testing apparatus was developed to take islet glucose response samples (GSIS) for further analysis in a microplate reader.
Study protocols and IACUC proposals were submitted for the Isla device. A series of studies was performed to get actionable endpoint data to further the research and engineering of the devices.