T1D Built Artificial Pancreas & Created a DIY Movement
What it is: A Type 1 Diabetic (T1D) grew frustrated with the limited volume on her glucose monitor, which made it difficult to sleep soundly at night. Afraid of not hearing a life-saving alarm, she took matters into her own hands and built an artificial pancreas. In doing this, she’s opened up a new DIY movement, which is letting non-technical T1D’s hack their hardware and provide better healthcare for themselves.
Why it's important: A skunkworks effort is about taking the status quo and boldly changing it. It's about flipping power dynamics and 100Xing the impact. DIY movements, like this artificial pancreas, show that innovators can be anyone and that innovation can revolutionize an industry. The disruptive pressure this movement has brought to the diabetic community is forcing manufacturers to improve their devices through greater digitization. The democratization of healthcare products will only continue to rise. How can you get ahead of the curve?