Funding for Perth study gives chance for children with type 1 diabetes to get the best treatment technology

Many children with type 1 diabetes are going without a lifesaving medical device because it is too expensive, but a Perth study is hoping to change this. Automated insulin delivery via the hybrid closed loop (HCL) pump is recognised as the most effective method to improve diabetes management. However, this transformative technology can cost up to $10,000 a year and is restricted to those with expensive health insurance or limited philanthropic programs. The Children’s Diabetes Centre at the Telethon Kids Institute hopes to remove this barrier by researching the impact and cost effectiveness of making these devices available and free for all immediately after being diagnosed. The technology has been life-changing for Cooper Sellin, who was rushed to the ICU at Perth Children’s Hospital when a blood test revealed he had diabetes. The HCL pump automatically adjusts his insulin, including while he sleeps and sends real-time glucose levels to his phone. Before getting the insulin pump, the 13-year-old had to rely on the pin-pricking method to check his glucose levels. “It gives me a lot of freedom now. Everything has to be changed in way less time,” he said. His dad Rod Sellin said the device had given the whole family more peace of mind. “It means he’s not finger pricking every three hours, so we had to wake him up throughout the night, which is obviously quite difficult as both my wife and I work,” he said. “Now that he’s on the pump, we can see all his levels on our phones so we can see when he is going low rather than waiting for it to be low.” The study will occur across a three-year period, allowing every child newly diagnosed with type 1 diabetes at Perth Children’s Hospital to receive an HCL through funding from the PCH Foundation. Lead researcher Liz Davis hopes this will provide all children diagnosed with type 1 diabetes the best possible start in managing the life-long disease, and the results will inform a new model of care. “The study is going to allow us to offer the best treatment to every child with newly diagnosed type 1 diabetes,” she said. “Currently, children with diabetes live about 12 to 15 years less than kids who don’t have diabetes, so we’re hoping this system will help us change that gap.” The study has been funded through $600,000 from the WA Child Research Fund.