An international panel of more than 40 healthcare professionals and legal experts has published the first ‘practical guidance’ to support people with type 1 diabetes using open-source automated insulin delivery systems to manage their condition.

The paper, published online in The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology, has been endorsed by nine professional diabetes organisations, including the International Diabetes Federation, but not by the peak Australian diabetes bodies.

Open-source automated insulin delivery (AID) systems, also known as the do-it-yourself (DIY) artificial pancreas or looping systems, use community-generated algorithms to calculate insulin dose in response to continuous glucose monitoring, insulin-pump data and additional information.

They are not regulated by the TGA and therefore health professionals cannot recommend them to patients and may face medical and legal risks if they do, according to Diabetes Australia’s position statement on the topic.