A team of researchers at Harvard University have successfully trialed an artificial pancreas system that uses an algorithm on a smartphone to automatically deliver appropriate levels of insulin.

This might provide a way to let diabetics focus on their everyday lives instead of pumps and needles.

The artificial pancreas system consists of an insulin pump and continuous glucose monitor placed under the user's skin.

The mobile software tells the organ to regulate glucose levels based on criteria like activity, meals and sleep, and it refines its insulin control over time by learning from daily cycles. Effectively, it's trying to behave more like the pancreas of a person without diabetes.

The trial results were promising. There is still plenty of testing and approvals necessary before an artificial pancreas like this can reach the market. If it does, though, it could reduce some of the stress in diabetics' lives.