The University of Southampton

Author: Ria Hill

Diabetes- The Complications Of A Cure

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Context

Diabetes type 1 is a chronic and exasperating condition. Although I do not experience it myself, I have witnessed the tedious effect it has on lives. Management of diabetes is a growing field where further development of instruments such as the libre are becoming increasingly user friendly and accurate.

This image displays the libre on the bicep of this user. It is a cannula device which stores glucose readings every 15 minutes. A trend graph and further details can be accessed through the app LibreLinkUp (https://www.healthline.com/diabetesmine/abbott-freestyle-libre-review).

Witnessing someone close to me have to use the Libre and insulin pump daily, I saw how inconvenient the condition is; if there is a problem with the users ratios, their whole persona can change or their health turns to worse. I empathize with those who have to deal with diabetes day to day and those who may not find it as easy to manage because of other conditions. This module has nurtured my interest from lecture 2 as I have thought about the possibilities to either develop monitoring, or engineering of the beta cells themselves. The workshop station with Kirsten O’Brien and the tissue engineering lecture displayed to me how stem cells can be grown. These sprouted thoughts into allergenic cell transplantation and the complications of accessibility to pancreatic stem cells.

Cell staining of the Islets of Langerhans using immunohistochemistry, the beta cells which produce insulin are illustrated in green and the alpoha cells stained red produce glucagon. Nucleus are in blue (https://blogs.bcm.edu/2019/10/01/from-the-labs-image-of-the-month-islet-of-langerhans/).

Current Research

There’s research into treating beta cells or replacing them using stem cells. Clinical islet transplantation has been explored – however there are issues with supply and demand, or quality of life for the patient, as they would have to use immuno-suppressants avoiding immune mediated graft loss/ potential organ failure. Materials such as scaffolding could be used in an islet transplant to protect from mechanical stress and aid the remodelling of the tissue.

However a controversy lies with, where do these replacement beta cells originate?

Complications Arise

Embryonic stem cells are the ideal candidate for use in this research, as there is higher replicability with differentiation and they have a success rate of up to 80%. The pleuropotency of ESC (embryonic stem cells) is the heaviest advantage as it allows the potential to replace faulty tissue. However, using these will result in the death of an embryo.

This raises ethical debates -when is an embryo considered conscious? Researchers can use aborted embryos with informed consent from the mother, although my mind goes to what happens to failed IVF attempts, hoping that the embryos would go towards research rather than discarded.

1.7 Million Human Embryos Created for IVF Thrown Away

Quote from the telegraph- This is outdated and not from a reliable source, however is still a considerable figure to give some thought about with bias.

Another complication to consider, is how to treat those who would refuse stem cell researched cures- because of religious views. In my opinion this should be heavily considered, as nobody should receive less medical care because of their faith, even if they refuse to accept the treatment. Would developing the Libre and pumps be an acceptable quality of life, or must induced pluripotent stem cells become further developed to avoiding these dilemmas?

From an economic standpoint, research into diabetes treatment would be a huge investment for the NHS. Evidence has shown that the NHS spends around £10 billion a year on diabetes. Shockingly, this equates to £25,000 a minute. Therefore not only would the quality of life be improved with research into a cure, but the government would also benefit, which I believe could be a huge motivator to diabetic research; quite sadist unfortunately. This makes me think further into whether diabetics would receive the research if they did not cost the NHS so much.

Summary Of My Thoughts

Reflecting on the impact this module has had on my thoughts about this, there are many options of research out there that could potentially cure type 1 diabetes, however the root of these treatments derive from a highly controversial source. From a holistic approach, using embryos would save many more lives than it would cost to research; however alternatives should receive more attention not just for ethical reasons but religious perspectives which can be overlooked in research and need more representation.

Further Information

https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.abh1657– Scientific Article regarding topics discussed with higher scientific details.

Alternative Current Research

This video from The neutronium alchemist talks about research into a new molecule for treating diabetes which would avoid the ethical implications from stem cell research

References

  1. Chung, H., Lu, Y., Oh, J., Wu, Z., & Im, K. (2021). Engineered bacterial outer membrane vesicles as a versatile platform for biosensing. Science, 373(6554), 148-153. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.abh1657

2. NHS England. (2022, March 16). NHS prevention programme cuts chances of type 2 diabetes for thousands. Retrieved from https://www.england.nhs.uk/2022/03/nhs-prevention-programme-cuts-chances-of-type-2-diabetes-for-thousands/#:~:text=Evidence%20has%20shown%20that%20the,effective%20in%20the%20long%2Dterm.

3. Priority You MD. (2021, May 7). What Is the Success Rate of Stem Cell Therapy? Retrieved from https://priorityyoumd.com/what-is-the-success-rate-of-stem-cell-therapy/#:~:text=The%20popularity%20of%20stem%20cell,biological%20component%20called%20stem%20cells

ASLAN- Connecting The Silent World

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Prosthesis and robotics have the capability of allowing sign language users to connect to those who do not understand.

Sign language is the fourth most used language in the UK however it is still taboo in the general population. At a selection of schools sign language is an optional extra however it is not part of the national curriculum.

There is an outcoming number of benefits from teaching BSL (British Sign Language) at schools. From an academic foresight there are many qualifications and careers you can pursue through BSL alone. More importantly, it allows effective communication and overcome discriminative barriers. I have experienced these barriers myself working in customer service. I feel helpless when a regular comes in who can only sign or write. It feels dehumanising asking him to write the Lego piece that he wants as it is complex to sign for, the ASLAN would eradicate this for my workplace and improve the quality of life for people; to the extent of scenarios others may take for granted.

There is more than 11 million people in the UK with some form of hearing loss, or one in six of the population.

This number is only expected to increase.

British Academy of Audiology- (Hearing Link Services, 2022)

Engineering students at the University of Antwerp have developed a device called ASLAN. It is a significantly cheap prosthetic that uses artificial intelligence to translate sign language, made at around £400. It allows to overcome the barrier between Sign language users and those who do not understand it, which will be highly beneficial to the quality of life of those with hearing impairments.

The team from Belgium in action working on ASLAN- (Fisher- Wilson, 2017)

ASLAN works by users sending messages which then are finger spelt in sign language. I believe that ASLAN has created a wider topic of research using prosthesis and robotics in conjunction to allow barriers involved with sign language to be completely overcome.

Further development of the ASLAN

There are countless possibilities I have thought further about from coming across the ASLAN such as creating an orthotic glove which the user will wear on their hands and whilst they sign, signals transduce to a system which will convert this to speech using graphite resistance technology or accelerometers. Or in scenarios where a deaf person may not have hands, inspired by ASLAN a prosthetic could be made which signs for the user.

Concepts of the ASLAN

A huge economic benefit of the ASLAN is that it is cheap and easy to make from a 3D printer. The ASLAN can also be mobile, these benefits combined would create less discrimination in industries such as schools and workplaces. Sign users would gain more independence in their day to day lives without the use of an interpreter, positively impacting societal and ethical fields of interest.

Controversies of the ASLAN

In dispute, this could be seen as attempting to replace interpreters, however the creators have assured this is not their intentions and they are developing ASLAN more for situations such as a student who cannot hear in class could use this to communicate convienently.

Another controversy of this topic is if it can be classed as a prosthetic? The ALSAN does replace a body part however it replaces the persons hand who is lacking sign language communication, not the direct user. It however does not attach to that person’s body in anyway therefore it could be classed as an indirect prosthetic. Therefore it could be argued as an orthotic as it aids function.

Further Information

This video from Hubs on You tube, displays some of the features of the ASLAN in more detail

To conclude the ASLAN opens a world of further research to improve the quality of life for BSL users and help overcome communication barriers. I believe this technology paired with increased awareness and education in schools would lead to connecting our two worlds.

References

Fisher- Wilson, G. (2017) There’s not enough sign language translators, so these students 3D printed a humanoid robot | Hubs. Available at: https://www.hubs.com/blog/theres-not-enough-sign-language-translators-so-these-students-3d-printed-a-humanoid-robot/ (Accessed: 9 March 2023).

Hearing Link Services (2022) Deafness & hearing loss facts – Hearing Link Services. Available at: https://www.hearinglink.org/your-hearing/about-hearing/facts-about-deafness-hearing-loss/ (Accessed: 9 March 2023).

Lego- building blocks for life?

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This is David Aguilar, he was born with Poland Syndrome which is a condition that affects the chest muscles, causing them to under develop at birth. Blockage of blood vessels in the womb can lead to this and other conditions such as Brachydactyly.

David Aguilar with his Lego prosthetic arm.

David had an interest as a child for Lego which lead to his development of his prosthetic arm. He used Lego Technic to create his model the ‘MK-1’ (iron man reference) which involved motors and his adaptation of fine motor movement with fingers and pressure sensors.

David is still evolving his prosthesis and creating new updated models using cables to contract to simulate muscle contraction. There is a book, documentary and many more articles about Davids story, including his youtube ‘Hand Solo’.

This video explains more about Davids story from himself

As a Lego employee myself it is amazing to see the extent to which Lego can go and not only be a bit of fun for kids. It is amazing how life changing it really is and the possibilities there are with it.

I believe Lego technic could be explored more in the world of prosthesis not only for function but to help introduce the topics to children to allow them to explore the world of STEM and possibly aid children who have conditions where prosthesis are an option, Lego may make this seem less daunting and allow them to explore this whilst having fun.

Ria Hill