A Computer-Simulated Model Evaluates Artificial Pancreas

A key step toward the successful development of an artificial pancreas for patients with type I diabetes has been achieved, according to a new study.

Researchers at the University of California Santa Barbara (UCSB, USA), the Sansum Diabetes Research Institute (Santa Barbara, CA, USA), and Stanford Medical Center (CA, USA) are developing a computer-simulated system for the evaluation of an investigational artificial pancreas which is comprised of an insulin management system and a continuous glucose monitor, and an algorithm that automates the interaction between them, facilitating the running of a variety of tests and challenges to the software and component devices. The UCSB-developed software and algorithms allow for a complete artificial beta-cell evaluation platform that has the flexibility to interface various algorithms and patient models, allowing for the systematic analysis of monitoring and control algorithms over a range of devices. For the development phase the researchers are using the OmniPod insulin management system, which includes an insulin pump and a controller (a product of Insulet Corporation (Bedford, MA, USA)), and the FreeStyle Navigator continuous glucose monitor (a product of Abbott Diabetes Care (Alameda, CA, USA)), among others. The study was published in the April 2009 issue of Diabetes Technology & Therapeutics.

"While we still have a ways to go, this new system brings us much closer to making the artificial pancreas a reality for type 1 diabetes patients," said lead author Eyal Dassau, Ph.D., diabetes team research manager at UCSB. "This achievement is vital; we now have a way, prior to patient trials, to fully verify and validate that an artificial pancreas can efficiently operate in the variety of conditions reflective of a large group of patients with this disease."

The research is part of the artificial pancreas project, which is funded by the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF, New York, NY, USA) and is being conducted by an international group of diabetes research centers. The project's first goal is to integrate an insulin pump and continuous blood glucose monitor to closely replicate a healthy pancreas for patients with type 1 diabetes patients, whose pancreas no longer produces insulin.

Related Links:
University of California Santa Barbara
Sansum Diabetes Research Institute
Stanford Medical Center
Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation