LEAPS gets off the ground

Geoff Chase, Jake Campbell, Lui Holder-Pearson presenting insulin pump

Geoff Chase, Jake Campbell and Lui Holder-Pearson in Wellington after pitching the LEAPS concept.

In May, Geoff, Jake and Lui flew to Wellington to present the concept behind LEAPS, along with the remaining team presenting via Zoom. This funding would secure two years of development with the goal of forming a commercial entity at the end of 2024. The team were grateful to be awarded funding from the following grants:

  • Ending With Impact Project (EWIP), Science for Technological Innovation (SfTI) NSC

  • Rangatahi Bolt-On Project (RBOP), Science for Technological Innovation (SfTI) NSC

  • RAP Stage III – Acceleration Fund, Te Tītoki Mataora MedTech Research Translator

These grants enabled us to put together a star team comprising of clinicians, engineers, social science research team and expert mentors. Development of our technology will be supported through Māori co-design via multiple community huis over the next two years.


The idea behind LEAPS (low-cost equitable artificial pancreas) proposes two core technologies, key to implementing a third with the goal of lowering medical hardware costs to enable access to anybody in need. These three technologies combine to provide an artificial pancreas, the gold standard of glucose control.

  • Our ultra-low-cost insulin pumps are currently producing a 50x reduction in cost with comparable accuracy to current commercial devices.

  • The non-invasive glucose monitor has had a successful NICU trial, and is undergoing further design to reduce cost, remove the pain of drawing blood, and change the state of care from single use devices, to a reusable device.

  • Combining the glucose sensor and insulin pumps enables closed loop control through our digital twin models. Closed loop control enables the digital twin to monitor your insulin sensitivity, allowing for greater control of glucose that is personalised to each user.

We’re excited to begin the journey towards commercialisation of our technology, providing equitable access to the gold standard of diabetes care

Jake

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Contribution of MAI to LEAPS