????知名醫學雜志《新英格蘭醫學期刊》（New England Journal of Medicine）近日刊發了一篇論文，著重討論了蘋果公司（Apple）新推出的HealthKit平臺可能給人類帶來的好處，以及還要等多久，這些好處才能成為現實。

????這篇文章介紹了一項針對患有1型糖尿病的20名成年人和32名未成年人進行的試驗。試驗的新奇之處在于，它利用了一臺微型血糖監測儀、兩個皮下激素注射泵和一部iPhone來自動控制患者的胰島素水平。

????這套簡單的設備可以模仿人類胰腺的功能，根據需要向人體注射胰島素或胰增血糖素，將人體的血糖保持在一個正常的范圍。據這篇論文顯示，在使用了這款試驗性設備后，對未成年人低血糖癥狀的干預由每天的1.6次下降到0.8次，整整下降了一半。

????耶魯大學糖尿病中心（the Yale Diabetes Center）主任凱萬?赫羅德告訴《紐約時報》（the New York Times）：“這個數據解決了糖尿病管理過程中的一些最困難的問題。我想說，它的效果非常顯著，值得關注。”

????這款設備由波士頓大學（Boston University）生物機械工程學副教授愛德華?R?達米亞諾研發。達米亞諾15歲的兒子也患有1型糖尿病。他的目標是在2015年讓這款設備接受美國食品藥品監督管理局（FDA）的測試，然后在2017年秋季（也就是他兒子上大學）之前通過FDA認證。

????1型糖尿病是一種先天性的自體免疫性疾病，是糖尿病一種較罕見的形式。據估計，美國患有1型糖尿病的人口可能在2.5萬人至5萬人以上。另外，隨著肥胖人口的不斷增加，患有2型糖尿病的人數近年也急劇增多。光是在美國，估計就已超過1700萬人。

????據糖尿病雜志《Diabetes Mine》2012年的一篇文章顯示，在達米亞諾的設備中，iPhone可以與皮下激素注射泵進行無線連接，向iCloud定期發送報告，而患者的數據則在iCloud中進行處理和管理。

????這款設備的早期版本使用的是現在已下架的蘋果iPhone4手機。（財富中文網）

????譯者：樸成奎

????A paper in the prestigious New England Journal of Medicine highlights both the potential benefits of Apple’s newly unveiled HealthKit platform and how far off those benefits might still be.

????The report describes an experiment in which 20 adults and 32 adolescents with Type 1 diabetes controlled their insulin levels automatically using a miniature blood sugar monitor, a pair of under-the-skin hormone pumps and an iPhone.

????The jerry-rigged device functioned as a bionic pancreas, injecting insulin or glucagon as needed to keep blood sugar levels within a normal range. According to the report, the number of interventions for hypoglycemia among the adolescents was cut in half, from 1.6 per day for a conventional insulin pump to 0.8 a day with the experimental device.

????“The data address some of the most difficult problems in diabetes management,” Dr. Kevan Herold, director of the Yale Diabetes Center, told the New York Times. “I’d say that the effects are quite significant and noteworthy.”

????The device was developed by Edward R. Damiano, an associate professor of biomechanical engineering at Boston University, whose 15-year-old son has type 1 diabetes. His goal is to begin FDA testing in 2015 and win approval before his son starts college in the fall of 2017.

????Type 1 diabetes, a congenital autoimmune disorder, is the rarer form of diabetes. Estimates of the number of Americans living with it range from 25,000 to over 50,000. But systems like Damiano’s might also be used to treat type 2 diabetes. The incidence of type 2 diabetes has climbed sharply with the rise of obesity and is now estimated to exceed 17 million in the U.S. alone.

????In Damiano’s device, according to a 2012 article in Diabetes Mine, the iPhone communicates wirelessly with the hormone pumps and sends periodic reports to the iCloud, where the patient data is accessed and managed.

????An early version was build using an off-the-shelf iPhone 4.