A new study, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, considers the use of a bionic pancreas for the management of type 1 diabetes. The researchers found that the bionic pancreas offered improvements over the traditional disease management with an insulin pump. Both adolescents and adults with type 1 diabetes saw improvements, including improved average glycemic levels and less frequent hypoglycemic episodes.

The device was developed out of a father’s desire to help his son. GPB News reports that Ed Damiano’s 15-year-old son David suffers from type 1 diabetes. He sleeps hooked up to a monitor that will alert him if his blood sugar drops too low. Without proper management and response, David could die in his sleep. When the alarm goes off, Ed jumps out of bed, fearing the worst.

Hoping for a better option, Ed is working to get his new bionic pancreas approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration before David leaves for college in three years. At the moment, Damiano’s system is basically a sophisticated app that runs on a smartphone. The smartphone is connected wirelessly to a typical blood sugar monitor taped to the abdomen.

The app analyzes the data from the monitor and sends signals wirelessly to two pumps. Both are similar to the kinds of devices many diabetes patients wear to ensure they have enough insulin. However, in this case, one pump contains insulin and the other contains glucagon, a different hormone that raises blood sugar when it gets too low. This means that instead of rushing to his side worrying that his son has died in his sleep, Ed knows that his son is getting a much needed boost in blood sugar and a good night’s rest.