R E Dealing with Diabetes: The Road to Developing an ...

Dealing with Diabetes: The Road to Developing an Artificial Pancreas

Danait Issac

INTRODUCTION

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention,

¡°More than 100 million U.S adults are now living with diabetes or

prediabetes.¡± There is no cure for diabetes. Since diabetics cannot

produce enough insulin, they are required to take insulin shots and

watch over their blood glucose levels by testing a drop of blood

from a finger prick daily. In 2016, the FDA approved a model of

an artifical pancreas for type 1 diabetics, an automated system that

monitors blood glucose levels and adjust insulin automatically.

This removes the need for type 1 and 2 diabetics to constantly test

their blood and inject insulin shots while trying to balance a

healthy diet. Today around the globe, clinical trials and research

projects are underway to test the accuracy and fleasibly of an

artificial pancreas. With the advancement of the artificial pancreas,

it could enhance the standard of living for all diabetics and avoid

complications and deaths due to diabetes.

MATERIALS

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Solderless breadboard

330 k¦¸ resistor

100 k¦¸ resistor

Jumper wire kit

N-channel MOSFET

1 M¦¸ potentiometer

100 k¦¸ potentiometer

10 k¦¸ potentiometer

Alligator clip test leads (4)

24 AWG bare copper wire

Bromothymol Blue Indicator solution 0.04%

12V peristaltic liquid pump

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RESULTS

PURPOSE

The purpose of this experiment is to build a circuit model

of an artificial pancreas to investigate the challenges of

getting such a device to work.

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PROCEDURE

By using a step-by-step slideshow provided by Sciencebuddies, the

electronic components,330 k¦¸ resistor, 100 k¦¸ resistor, Jumper wire,

MOSFET, 1 M¦¸ potentiometer, 100 k¦¸ potentiometer, 10 k¦¸

potentiometer, Pump, 8xAA batteries, are inserted into the holes of the

breadboard to create an electronic circuit.

In order to create a conductivity sensor to be inserted in the breadboard, two

pieces of 16 cm copper wire is wrapped around the ends of a 6 cm segment

of a plastic straw. The copper wire tails from the straw will then be poke

through a flat piece of Styrofoam. On the opposite side of where the straw

is, a sharp bend is made in each wire.

Testing the Model

1. Label three mixing bowls ¡°Neutralized¡±, ¡°Vinegar¡±, and ¡°Baking Soda¡±.

2. Put 14.3 g of baking soda into the mixing bowl labeled ¡°Baking Soda¡±.

3. Using the graduated cylinder, measure 200 ml of distilled water and add

it to the baking soda.

4. Mix the water and baking sad until the baking soda is completley

dissolved.

5. Measure out 100 ml of the baking solution and add it to the mixing bowl

labeled ¡°Neutralized¡±.

6. Measure out 100 ml of distilled white vinegar and very slowly it to the

¡°Neutralized¡± bowl.

7. Measure out 200 mL of distilled white vinegar and carefully pour it into

the "Vinegar" bowl

Prior to testing the model, the conductivity sensor has to carefully placed in

the ¡°Neutralized¡± bowl so that the artificial pancreas is normalizied and the

pump does not run when the sensor is in a neutralized solution.

The conductivity sensor is then placed in the baking soda solution which

will make the pump move a 200 ml solution of vinegar into a bowl of the

100 ml solution of baking soda until the solution is neutralized, which turns

off the pump automatically.

CONCLUSION

In conclusion, this experiment proves that an artificial pancreas can

adjust the insulin of a diabetic accurately and automatically. However,

it also displays what happens when not enough or too much insulin is

pumped into a bloodstream. During the first trial, the baking soda

solution did not neutralized. The entire vinegar solution was pumped

into the baking soda bowl due to the solutions not being stirred

throughly and the straw of the sensor not being entirely submerged.

During the 2nd , 3rd, and 4th trials , aware of these mistakes, the model

did neutralize the baking soda solution and turned off the pump

automatically. In the future, I would like to conduct a study on how

diabetics feel about the artifical pancreas and if they prefer it over their

insulin shots.

References

Rowland, T., Lohner, S., Finio, B., & Bonham, A. (2018, December 1). Dealing with Diabetes: The Road to Developing an Artificial Pancreas. Retrieved from



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