Research Review: The FLIP-IT Trials First Step to Full Automation A 6-Week Comparison of Patch-APS and Commercial AID

Type 1 diabetes is a lifelong condition that requires people to constantly manage their blood glucose levels to stay healthy. Even with modern insulin pumps and glucose sensors, many people still struggle to stay within recommended targets, which increases the risk of long-term complications and places a heavy daily burden on those living with the condition.

This project analysed early data from the FLIP-IT clinical trial, which is studying a new insulin delivery system that uses a small, tubeless pump and advanced software to automate insulin delivery. The software is open source, meaning it has been developed collaboratively by members of the diabetes community and can run on Android smartphones. The patch pump is designed to be less visible and may help reduce the practical and psychological burden of wearing diabetes devices. Over the first six weeks of the study, people using this new system had similar blood glucose levels to those continuing with standard commercial systems. Both groups spent around one to two additional hours per day within the recommended glucose range by the end of the six-week period. No episodes of severe low blood sugar or diabetic ketoacidosis occurred in either group during this phase of the study. These early results show that the new system can be introduced safely, allowing the study to move on to its next stage. The next part of the study will test whether the system can maintain good glucose control while reducing reliance on carbohydrate counting and manual meal insulin doses, which are a significant daily cognitive burden for many people with type 1 diabetes.

A personal highlight of this project was taking part in a participant onboarding day in Dunedin. This experience helped me better understand the everyday challenges of living with type 1 diabetes and appreciate how advances in medical technology can reduce management burden and improve quality of life.