Design and Control of the Artifical Pancreas

An artificial pancreas (AP) to treat type 1 diabetes mellitus is currently being designed using the latest control technology. There are many challenges to this undertaking, many due to the fact that this is a biological system, making this device high risk while presenting challenges for sensing and delivery. A controller for this system, zone model predictive control, has been designed to control to a zone, not a set-point, which can result in unnecessary and dangerous overcorrection. The AP design includes a parallel multi-component safety system, the Health Monitoring System (HMS). The components of the HMS focus on specific safety concerns, such as hypoglycemia. In the hypoglycemia prediction component, noisy sensor data are pre-processed and, when imminent hypoglycemia is predicted, notifies the physician. Insulin delivery vehicles are readily interchangeable in this AP design. Alternative routes, such as the respiratory and intraperitoneal routes, are being explored and incorporated into alternative systems. These routes tend to be faster and safer than the SC route and may be able to improve control. All of these challenges and opportunities are being explored with the goal being an automated AP that can be used in daily life.