Success Stories

Internet of Things Success Stories Series #3
e-Health
Personalized Artificial
Pancreas Device Systems
Ashok Khanna, Saptarishi Dey, Dr. Venkataramana Runkana, Shantanu Maheshwari
ashok.khanna@tcs.com, saptarshi.dey@tcs.com, venkat.runkana@tcs.com
ABSTRACT: Diabetes is the fifth leading cause of death in a majority of the developed countries and is becoming an
increasingly larger issue in emerging regions as well. The International Diabetes Federation (IDF) estimates that 382
million people across the globe were diagnosed with diabetes in 2013. They project that by the year 2035 1 , the disease
is likely to impact 592 million people and will entail over US$500 billion in health expenditure annually.
Diabetic patients whose blood glucose levels are kept close to normal through suitable therapeutic measures face
a lower risk of dangerous hypoglycaemic episodes and complications from diabetes, than less successfully treated
patients. A precondition for this success is the close monitoring of blood glucose levels. Therefore, a great deal of
research has been directed towards the development of sensors that permit near painless, continuous measurement
of blood glucose levels.
This paper discusses the prevalence of diabetes globally, highlights the problems associated with the disease, and
discusses the Artificial Pancreas Device System (APDS). The APDS is a solution that can help diabetic patients lead a
better lifestyle by helping them to automatically control their blood glucose level. It achieves this by providing substitute
endocrine functionality similar to that of healthy pancreas.
In this paper, we have focused on the patient specific artificial pancreas device that leverages artificial intelligence
and high performance computing technology. The device uses an insulin pump which supplies the required doses of
insulin to the body under closed loop control after receiving real time data from a continuous blood glucose sensor.
The APDS technology is expected to not only monitor glucose levels in the body but also adjust the insulin dosage
automatically to reduce high blood glucose levels (hyperglycemia). It can also minimize the incidence of low blood
glucose (hypoglycemia) with little or no input from the patient.
KEY WORDS: Diabetes, APDS, Artificial Pancreas Device System, Insulin, Automate, Blood Glucose Meter (BGM)
[1] IDF Diabetes: Facts and Figures,2013 , http://www.idf.org/worlddiabetesday/toolkit/gp/facts-figures
Internet of Things • Success Stories 27 SERIES #3 - November 2015