Teen creates low-cost artificial pancreas

The low-cost device does the same job as those offered on the NHS but at a fraction of their £3,000 cost and £2,000 a year operating costs.

Thomas Rotherham College student Skander Ahmed (16) has signed a contract with global firm Medtronic to produce prototypes of his insulin pump, which removes the need for unpleasant injections.

The budding medical scientist created the ARDU-AP device, which monitors glucose in a patient’s bloodstream and automatically pumps insulin when needed.

It is built around the Arduino, a do-it-yourself computer which can be bought online for just £20.

His work earned an invitation to Imperial College London, where researchers are working on a similar device - the Bio-inspired Advanced Insulin Pump (BiAP).

Skander, of Regent Street, Kimberworth, who hopes to study biological sciences at university and then work in medical research, was inspired to work on an insulin pump while still at Winterhill School.

“I’m worried that diabetics have to pay so much for a condition they have got and which isn’t their fault,” he said.

“I did a project for the Google Science Fair programme about how an artificial pancreas works.

“Later, I got into coding with the Arduino, which is a super-cheap, open-source computer.

“I attached it to an insulin pump to measure blood glucose, then wondered if I could use it to pump in however much insulin was needed.”

He added: “My grandad is diabetic and takes regular injections, but some people really don’t like them.

“I wanted to invent something which was always there for patients, but didn’t affect them psychologically.”

Academics have praised Skander’s vision, but he said anyone with imagination can invent world-changing technology.

“People keep saying I’m really clever, but I’m not really,” he said. “It’s all about imagination.

“Anyone can get these computers and code - it’s all about being creative with them.”

He added: “It’s about questioning what you’ve got and whether you can improve it. The ability to do that is humankind’s little gift.

“I’ve started very small and had a lot of setbacks, but it’s nearly there. Now I just want to get it out there and give hope to diabetics.”

The device has not yet been tested on people but Skander hopes that the big business backing he has got will lead to human trials.

Some potential backers have simply ignored his letters, when he wrote to them with his idea.

“I’ve emailed more than 40 companies so far and only a few have replied - probably because I’m quite young,” he said.

“They probably think someone living in Kimberworth couldn’t really come up with something like this.

“A lot of people don’t take me seriously because I’m a new kid on the block, but I don’t really blame them.”

But Skander hopes that his partnership with Medtronic will see his insulin pump help thousands of diabetes patients.

“I hope one day that this device is given to diabetics as standard,” he said.

“There are 200,000 diabetic people living in the UK and a lot of them don’t like injections.

“So many people around the world just want to live normal lives but don’t get that chance, because of diabetes. I just want to try to help people.”