The prognosis for patients with diabetes has steadily improved in recent decades, thanks to technological advances like self-monitoring meters, new insulins and increasingly smaller, portable insulin pumps. But when Edmoth Matthews of Sterling, Mass. was first diagnosed with type 1 diabetes as a child, he was advised by medical experts to set aside any expectations to live a normal, active life. “I was told I’d see a cure by my 18th birthday,” recalls Mr. Matthews, now in his 40s, “but that until then, I should stay home and take it easy — and just forget about being a firefighter.”

“By giving people with diabetes tighter control of their blood sugar, the artificial pancreas increases the likelihood that we’ll live longer, healthier lives — and that’s everything to me.”

In the years since his diagnosis, the veteran firefighter for the city of Marlborough, Mass., has defied the limitations supposedly set out for him by his condition. But it hasn’t been easy. Managing his care means constantly calculating what he calls ‘the triangle’: the delicate relationship between food intake, exercise and medications.

But Mr. Matthews has never given up hoping for a better way — and it’s this hope that drew him to Mass General ’s human clinical trials for the artificial pancreas system. “If this device works, I might finally get a chance at a normal lifestyle,” he says.

Stanley Baker, a 72-year-old retired financial manager from Ipswich, Mass., who was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes 25 years ago, couldn’t agree more.

“Diabetes is top of my mind at all times for me,” says Mr. Baker, “and even with the best medical care available, you’re essentially on your own in the world with the disease. It can be a scary thing.” Mr. Baker has also volunteered to participate in the artificial pancreas trial. For him, the trial offers a twofold advantage — a chance to benefit the diabetes community and an opportunity to learn more about his disorder.

“The medical team and the researchers have already taught me so much about how my body works, how it responds to different situations,” says Mr. Baker. “By giving people with diabetes tighter control of their blood sugar, the artificial pancreas increases the likelihood that we’ll live longer, healthier lives — and that’s everything to me.”