8-year-old receives device that acts like artificial pancreas

LONG ISLAND (FOX5NY) - Not many people like going to the doctor, but for 8-year-old Jack Gilfedder, he's known his doctor, Jennifer Osipoff, for most of his life. 

"When we first met he was on a twice a day insulin injection," Dr. Osipoff said. 

Jack was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes just after his second birthday. He started with insulin shots and later switched over to a pump, but the dose couldn't be adjusted once insulin was administered. So Jack had to deal with a lot more than most kids his age because he always needed to monitor his sugar levels. 

"You have to test a lot," Jack said, "My friends were in the pool, and it would start alarming. We'd have to test every hour. The beach was a nightmare because it was always high."

For the first time, Jack and his family have some peace of mind thanks to a new Medtronic waterproof hybrid closed loop pump that monitors blood glucose levels to deliver a precise amount of insulin. Doctors at Stony Brook Medicine said Jack is one of the first pediatric parishes in the country to use it. 

"It just does it by itself now. So now I can basically do what I want," he said. "It just feels like a shot- it just stays there. It doesn't feel like anything. Just a pinch and you’re done."

Insulin pumps have been around for more than thirty years but for the first time, it's able to auto dose. Medical experts said it's the closest they've gotten to mimicking a healthy pancreas. 

"It still required wearing an insulin pump and a continuous glucose monitor, but when you're in auto mode really the only thing the patient and family needs to think about is making sure they enter the amount of carbs he's eating into the system," Dr. Osipoff said. 

The blue shield means Jack’s in auto mode. When he's in it, he's good to go.