BME Seminar: Dr. Eda Cengiz - Crossroads of Engineering and Diabetes - The Artificial Pancreas Therapy

Armour College of Engineering’s Biomedical Engineering Department will host a seminar featuring Eda Cengiz, MD, MHS, FAAP, Assistant Professor of Pediatrics (Endocrinology) at the Yale School of Medicine on January 30, 2015. The lecture topic will be Crossroads of Engineering and Diabetes: The Artificial Pancreas Therapy.

Abstract

Diabetes has been one of the most common chronic diseases in the world, leading to disability and death if not well treated. Incorporation of new technology into diabetes treatment provided clinicians managing patients with diabetes additional tools such as glucose sensors, smart insulin pumps, and the promise of closed-loop insulin therapy (a.k.a artificial pancreas project). Artificial Pancreas (AP) Therapy is a mechanical solution for diabetes management to restore near-physiologic glycemic control automatically. It has become one of the most anticipated treatments for diabetes. The AP system consists of four main elements: rapid/ultra-fast acting insulin, an insulin delivery device (insulin pump), continuous glucose sensing, and a controller or algorithm that, similar to the beta cell, regulates the proper amount of insulin delivery at the proper time. Advances in newer insulin formulations with improved insulin action- insulin pharmacokinetics (PK) and pharmacodynamics (PD) - will galvanize closed-loop insulin therapy systems and overcome challenges such as late action of rapid-acting insulins leading to postprandial hyperglycemia. Yale Pediatric Diabetes Center has been one of the main hubs of the artificial pancreas project, and ongoing research studies are investigating the PK-PD of new insulin formulations and novel tools to improve insulin PK-PD. This talk will highlight the results of key studies in the field of diabetes technology, including euglycemic clamp studies investigating the PK-PD of novel insulins, the impact of innovative insulin delivery devices on insulin action, and the artificial pancreas project. It will discuss the barriers and limitations of this relatively nascent technology and solutions to overcome these challenges.