Admetsys, a company headquartered in Boston, has developed a system for controlling blood glucose levels in critical care patients. Essentially an artificial pancreas, the system relies on a lab-on-a-chip that’s embedded within an intravenous catheter to measure glucose and lactic acid, automatically supplying insulin or glucose to keep the patient within normal range.

Measurements are done about every five minutes, and since sensing is embedded there’s no blood drawn out of the patient, no fingers are pricked. Moreover, once the catheter is placed and the system is initiated, there’s nothing for a nurse to do in terms of blood sugar regulation.

The system is moving through the regulatory frameworks in the U.S. and Europe, but the company has yet to receive any approvals.