Artificial Pancreas System for Type 1 Diabetes—Challenges and Advancements

Abstract

Type 1 diabetes mellitus is a chronic autoimmune disease, requiring glucose monitoring and intensive insulin therapy. Its therapeutic management aims to restore normal HbA1C and stabilize prandial and postprandial glucose levels. The burden of self-management of diabetes is high, and the growing requirement for blood glucose measuring devices presents a challenge. Such devices can continuously monitor glucose concentrations and automatically adjust insulin delivery rates, which in turn help to maintain blood glucose within a healthy range. The artificial pancreas system (so-called APS) technology has evolved rapidly over the past few years, capable of providing effective management of diabetes to improve quality of life of the type 1 diabetes mellitus patients. This review discusses the evolution of the APS technology and its progress in the various components: continuous subcutaneous insulin infusion, mathematical model, real-time continuous glucose monitoring, and control algorithms driving closed-loop control systems. The limitations and the proposed future directives are also discussed.