12:45pm – 146

1pm – 230

1:15pm – 246

1:30pm – 248

Lunch at 12:30pm – Let’s see  what happens.

Blood Glucose – 94 at 12:30pm

Carb Intake – 100 (Chicken Pot Pie, Veggies, Orange, and 8 oz. Cranberry Juice)

I’m now handing it over to Hope’s Magic Math……….

My blood glucose has been running slightly low this morning after the quick recovery from breakfast.  But this was its first test of low BG.  It stopped dropping and flat lined at 59, has been there for about 30 mins and is now on its way back up.

It’s funny, and fortunate, but I had never had glucagon until this trial.  I was interested to see how I would feel receiving it.  The doses are so small, that I have not felt anything that is typically a glucagon physiologic reaction.  It only has worked to keep my blood sugar from going low, for the most part.  And now that the algorithm has experienced its first hypoglycemic reaction, it will be able to prevent it in the future.  Just by simply balancing out the administration of the two hormones.

Oh, and the glucagon is such a simple molecule that it doesn’t have the time frame problems that insulin typically does.  It is absorbed and works quickly.

Now, almost time for lunch, and I am looking forward to seeing how much the algorithm learned from breakfast.

So let’s talk about the magic of the artificial pancreas.

While I can;t give any specifics about the algorithm itself (I can’t understand it anyway), I can speak to the results.

Dinner Last Night – At 6pm I consumed approximately 100 carbs or so with no pre-meal bolus.  Because the Algorithm and had not spent much time together, it has to “learn” how my body works.  It began administering insulin based on the readings from the Navigator CGM.  It took approximately 6 hours for my blood glucose to get back to 120, after peaking at about 270.

Breakfast This Morning – Again, at 7:30am, I consumed approximately 100 carbs with no pre-meal bolus.  The algorithm has learned enough about me so that my blood glucose is 113 after 2.5 hours after peaking at 245.

Big difference.  This is the Magic Math that runs the Artificial Pancreas and drives care to an A1c between 6.5-7 for adults and 7-7.5 for kids with less than 1% of hypoglycemia below 70.  The algorithm continues learn base on past experiences, over the last few days and works to better itself.

Kind of sounds like what we do everyday, but without the emotion, frustration, exhaustion and with consistency that only a computer can provide.

I am more encouraged now about this device now than I ever have been.  I new I wanted it.  Now I want it even more.

These are the guys that wrote the code for the algorithm that makes the artificial pump work.
El-Khatib (L)
Edward Damiano (R)

Why are 2 guys with a background in fluid flow in blood vessels writing code for this AP? Because Ed’s son was diagnosed with T1D 13 years ago. Ed wants this artificial pancreas in place before his son goes to college so that he and his wife can sleep.

You can read more about their project at:
www.artificialpancreas.org