Research Team: Dr Pantelis GeorgiouDr Pau Herrero, Prof Nick Oliver, Dr Monika Reddy, Mr Ryan Armiger, Mr John Daniels, Dr Mohamed El Sharkawy, Dr Peter Pesl, Dr Shivshankar Seechurn, Dr Chukwuma Uduku, Ms Narvada Jugnee, Prof Des Johnston, and Prof Chris Toumazou

Funding: The Wellcome Trust; Imperial College London Diabetes Centre (Abu Dhabi, UAE)

Technological progress in the field of diabetes management has enabled the development of automated insulin delivery systems for blood glucose control, the so-called artificial pancreas, which consists of a subcutaneous continuous glucose sensor and a subcutaneous infusion pump that delivers insulin at a rate decided by a computer program.

A bio-inspired approach: We have introduced the Bio-inspired Artificial Pancreas (BiAP), the first and only closed-loop insulin delivery system based on mathematical modelling of the pancreatic beta-cell physiology.

An AI-powered insulin bolus calculator: Due to pharmacological limitations of currently available insulin formulations, artificial pancreas systems require user intervention to administer an additional insulin dose at mealtimes. For this purpose, BiAP incorporates an innovative meal-insulin bolus calculator which uses artificial intelligence to learn from user and controller behaviours in order to provide superior meal-insulin dosing.

A low-power solution: The BiAP control algorithm is designed for embedded low-power solutions (e.g. insulin pumps) and has successfully been implemented in a dedicated microchip-based solution and, more recently, in a smartphone-based platform. It has also been integrated with different commercial insulin pumps and continuous glucose sensors.

biaps

Figure. The Bio-inspired Artificial Pancreas. Left) Microchip-based handheld version; Right) Smartphone-based version

 Clinical trials:

BiAP has been clinically evaluated in participants with type 1 diabetes in the following trials:

  • Feasibility studies including fasting conditions, overnight and following a standard meal (breakfast) challenge (n=20)
  • 24-hour randomised controlled clinical trial including unannounced meals and underestimated carbohydrate content (n=12)
  • 24-hour randomised controlled clinical trial including standard exercise with insulin-only closed-loop control and insulin and glucagon closed-loop control (n=6)
  • 3-month crossover randomised  controlled clinical trial in ambulatory conditions (n=20) (trial on-hold)

Follow us on Twitter: @Imperial_BiAP

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Related Publications:

  1. Herrero, P., El-Sharkawy, M., Daniels, J., Jugnee, N., Uduku, C. N., Reddy, M., Oliver, N. & Georgiou, P. The bio-inspired artificial pancreas for type 1 diabetes control in the home: system architecture and preliminary results. Journal of diabetes science and technology, 2019, 13, 1017–1025.
  2. Herrero, P., Bondia, J., Adewuyi, O., Pesl, P., El-Sharkawy, M., Reddy, M., Toumazou, C., Oliver, N & Georgiou, P. (2017). Enhancing automatic closed-loop glucose control in type 1 diabetes with an adaptive meal bolus calculator–in silico evaluation under intra-day variability. Computer methods and programs in biomedicine146, 125-131.
  3. Herrero, P., Bondia, J., Oliver, N. & Georgiou, P. (2017) A coordinated control strategy for insulin and glucagon delivery in type 1 diabetes. Computer methods in biomechanics and biomedical engineering. 20,1474–1482.x 
  4. Seechurn S, Reddy M, Jugnee N, El Sharkawy M, Pesl P, Herrero P, Godsland I, Toumazou C, Georgiou P, Oliver N. Does the addition of glucagon to a closed loop system impact on post exercise glycaemia? Diabetes Technology and Therapeutics 2016;18(S1):A148
  5. Seechurn S, Reddy M, Jugnee N, El Sharkawy M, Pesl P, Herrero P, Godsland I, Toumazou C, Georgiou P, Oliver N. Does the addition of glucagon to the closed loop insulin pump add any benefit? Diabetes Technology and Therapeutics 2016;18(S1):A149
  6. Reddy, M., Herrero, P., Sharkawy, M. E., Pesl, P., Jugnee, N., Pavitt, D., Pavitt, D., Godsland, I. F., Alberti, G., Toumazou, C., Johnston, D. G., Georgiou, P., & Oliver, N. S. (2016). Metabolic control with the bio-inspired artificial pancreas in adults with type 1 diabetes: a 24-hour randomized controlled crossover studyJournal of diabetes science and technology10(2), 405-413.
  7. Reddy, M., Herrero, P., El Sharkawy, M., Pesl, P., Jugnee, N., Thomson, H., Pavitt, D., Toumazou, C.,Johnston, D., Georgiou, P. & Oliver, N. (2014). Feasibility study of a bio-inspired artificial pancreas in adults with type 1 diabetes. Diabetes technology & therapeutics16(9), 550-557.
  8. Herrero P, Georgiou P, Oliver N, et alA Bio-Inspired Glucose Controller Based on the Pancreatic beta-Cell Physiology, Journal of Diabetes Science and Technology, 2012, Vol:6
  9. Oliver N, Georgiou P, Johnston D, et alA benchtop closed-loop system controlled by a bio-inspired silicon implementation of the pancreatic beta cell., J Diabetes Sci Technol, 2009, Vol:3, Pages:1419-1424
  10. Georgiou P, Toumazou C. A Silicon Pancreatic Beta Cell for Diabetes, IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Circuits and Systems, vol.1, no.1, pp.39-49, March 2007
  11. Georgiou P, Toumazou C. Towards an ultra low power chemically inspired electronic beta cell for diabetes, 2006 IEEE International Symposium on Circuits and Systems. ISCAS 2006, Proceedings, pp. 4, 21-24 May 2006

Contact us

Centre for Bio-Inspired Technology
Imperial College London
Bessemer Building
South Kensington
SW7 2AZ, UK

Tel: +44 (0)207 594 0701
Fax: +44 (0)207 594 0704

E-mail: bioinspired@imperial.ac.uk