Types of Artificial Pancreas Device Systems

The goal of this artificial pancreas is to reduce hypoglycemia severity by temorarily stop insulin delivery when the glucose level falls to a low glucose threshold. This kind of system serves as a potential back-up when a patient is unable to respond to a low blood sugar or hypoglycemic event. Patients using this system will still need to be active partners in managing their blood glucose levels by periodically checking their blood glucose levels and by giving themselves insulin or eating.

This artificial pancreas achieves a target glucose level by automatically increasing or decreasing the amount of insulin infused based on the sensor values. This system could be a hybrid system that could only automatically adjust basal insulin with the user manually delivering bolus insulin to cover meals, or could be a fully closed loop system, where the system can automatically adjust basal insulin and provide insulin for meals.

This artificial pancreas achieves a target glucose level by using two algorithms to instruct an infusion pump to deliver two different hormones. The 2 hormones are insuin and glucagon. Insulin will be used to lower blood sugar and glucagon to increase blood sugar. This mimics a healthy pancreas more closely than an insulin-only system.