摘要:AbstractInsulin pumps are the most consistent and accurate means of regulating blood glucose levels in Types 1 and 2 diabetes. However, the technology is underutilised due to very high costs. A typical insulin pump costs US$6500, which makes this gold standard of care inaccessible to many, reducing equity of access to care. Since insulin pumps were first introduced, the simple hardware has not changed significantly. Pump manufacturers couple the low-cost and simple hardware with their own software, removing consumer choice and locking value into the product. Using both a traditional motor-driven and novel spring-loaded approach, insulin pump hardware can be replicated for US$100. Initial testing of the traditional motor-driven prototype proves the low-cost approach has comparable accuracy to commercially available pumps, with 85.1% of basal doses delivered within 5% of target. The results obtained indicate pump hardware and software can be separated with no significant loss in accuracy. If a separate market for pump software is established, costs can be driven down through market pressure given the increasing access to relatively extensive mobile and cloud computing. If open-source software is made accessible, a complete pump could be offered for US$100. A 98.5% cost reduction would drastically improve pump accessibility, particularly in developing nations, and could lead to a global improvement in diabetes treatment, outcomes and costs.