This is absolutely amazing!
One thing that's unclear, and perhaps I didn't read carefully enough, is how you're connected to this system.
Do you wear it? Or are you only connected while sitting, sleeping, etc?
On Building My Own Artificial Pancreas
21–30 of 56 posts
Re: On Building My Own Artificial Pancreas
#22So, for those of you that feel that this is worthy of hacking: Diabetes is one of those diseases that seems right where your average hacker would like it to be. A single value (Blood Glucose Level) which you can read using some sensor and an automated delivery method. Connect A to B using some 30 lines of Python and call it a day. But it is not that simple. The manufacturers of these devices have to go through some p…
Note that glucose is only a proxy for the actual thing we want to control, which is insulin.
Re: On Building My Own Artificial Pancreas
#23So, for those of you that feel that this is worthy of hacking: Diabetes is one of those diseases that seems right where your average hacker would like it to be. A single value (Blood Glucose Level) which you can read using some sensor and an automated delivery method. Connect A to B using some 30 lines of Python and call it a day. But it is not that simple. The manufacturers of these devices have to go through some p…
Note that glucose is only a proxy for the actual thing we want to control, which is insulin.
Insulin controls blood glucose. So how do you figure blood glucose is merely a proxy for insulin and not the actual thing an artificial pancreas is intended to control?
Re: On Building My Own Artificial Pancreas
#24Earlier quoted context omitted.
Note that glucose is only a proxy for the actual thing we want to control, which is insulin.
Insulin controls blood glucose. So how do you figure blood glucose is merely a proxy for insulin and not the actual thing an artificial pancreas is intended to control?
My guess - where does the target blood glucose level come from in a non-diabetic? The thing the body can't produce is insulin. Higher than target blood glucose is a sign that not enough insulin is being produced. I can roughly see the logic there.
Re: On Building My Own Artificial Pancreas
#25Earlier quoted context omitted.
Insulin controls blood glucose. So how do you figure blood glucose is merely a proxy for insulin and not the actual thing an artificial pancreas is intended to control?
My guess - where does the target blood glucose level come from in a non-diabetic? The thing the body can't produce is insulin. Higher than target blood glucose is a sign that not enough insulin is being produced. I can roughly see the logic there.
As I understand it, target blood glucose levels for diabetics are based on normal blood glucose levels in healthy (non-diabetic) individuals. So presumably a healthy body has some internal mechanism for determining when and how much insulin to produce/release into the blood stream.
As far as I know, we haven't figured out what that mechanism is. But I'm not diabetic and I'm much less prone to being hypoglycemic than I once was, so my reading on the subject is fairly casual compared to when I did things like wrote a research paper on Functional Hypoglycemia in part for my own edification.
Re: On Building My Own Artificial Pancreas
#26Earlier quoted context omitted.
> Any comments? I hope they don't mess up the encryption on the pump commands. Especially with pumps that can deliver high doses that can be really problematic.
Is it possible to have interlocks whereby a pump will refuse to dose more than X ml over Y hours or is a fatal dose for some people in some scenarios less than a therapeutic does for others in other scenarios?
Yes, dosages vary by your size, weight, gender, stress, and other factors. Part of type 2 diabetes is often insulin resistance, but people with type 1 can also suffer from it as well (although it's not the cause of type 1). Some people even need to use highly concentrated forms of insulin, ie U-500 instead of the standard U-100.
Re: On Building My Own Artificial Pancreas
#27This is absolutely amazing! One thing that's unclear, and perhaps I didn't read carefully enough, is how you're connected to this system. Do you wear it? Or are you only connected while sitting, sleeping, etc?
Most insulin pumps are worn 24/7 or very close to it (some people will disconnect briefly when showering, plus switching out tubing/etc). Insulin pumps often use a faster acting type of insulin, so that within 3-4 hours, it's all gone, and from there, you quickly enter diabetic ketoacidosis. You can take it off for short periods of time if you make sure to dose for it or take shots periodically while you're disconnected.
Re: On Building My Own Artificial Pancreas
#28This is absolutely amazing! One thing that's unclear, and perhaps I didn't read carefully enough, is how you're connected to this system. Do you wear it? Or are you only connected while sitting, sleeping, etc?
Read the man page! ;)
https://openaps.readthedocs.io/en/latest/docs/Gear%20Up/pump...
Re: On Building My Own Artificial Pancreas
#29This is absolutely amazing! One thing that's unclear, and perhaps I didn't read carefully enough, is how you're connected to this system. Do you wear it? Or are you only connected while sitting, sleeping, etc?
Read the man page! ;) https://openaps.readthedocs.io/en/latest/docs/Gear%20Up/pump...
OK, I guess. But I was looking for something in TFA.
Re: On Building My Own Artificial Pancreas
#30So, for those of you that feel that this is worthy of hacking: Diabetes is one of those diseases that seems right where your average hacker would like it to be. A single value (Blood Glucose Level) which you can read using some sensor and an automated delivery method. Connect A to B using some 30 lines of Python and call it a day. But it is not that simple. The manufacturers of these devices have to go through some p…
meh still it seems extremely trivial for pretty much any well funded startup to do... and extremely surprising that it does not exist. i mean if theranos can exist, why the hell is this problem not solved?