The Artificial Pancreas is not a medical breakthrough—it is a mathematical solution to a profound failure of human physiology.

This book offers a clear and comprehensive exploration of the mathematical principles that enable the artificial pancreas to restore glucose control in type 1 diabetes. It begins with the limitations of manual therapy, where patients rely on simple rules like the 1800 Rule for insulin sensitivity and the 500 Rule for carbohydrate ratios. These static formulas, while useful starting points, fail to address the dynamic, nonlinear behavior of the glucose-insulin system. The narrative then progresses to the sophisticated mathematical frameworks that power closed-loop systems. It examines the differential equations modeling subcutaneous insulin absorption, meal-derived glucose appearance, and endogenous glucose production. Key concepts such as the Minimal Model, the Hovorka simulator, Kalman filtering for noise reduction, and the optimization techniques of Model Predictive Control are unpacked in detail. The book traces how these tools—ranging from compartment models and state-space formulations to cost functions and safety constraints—transform a chaotic metabolic process into a stable, automated control system.

What sets this book apart is its unwavering focus on the mathematical architecture that underpins artificial pancreas technology, rather than merely describing clinical outcomes or hardware. Most existing literature on diabetes management emphasizes practical usage, clinical trials, or engineering implementation, often treating the underlying control theory as a black box. This work bridges that gap by explicitly revealing the equations, derivations, and analytical methods—from Steele’s equation for glucose flux to the receding horizon optimization of MPC—that allow algorithms to predict, constrain, and stabilize glucose excursions. It demonstrates why predictive control outperforms traditional proportional-integral-derivative methods and how tools like insulin-on-board calculations and barrier functions enforce safety in the face of inherent delays and unremovable disturbances. By presenting these concepts as a coherent progression from heuristic approximations to differential calculus, the book provides readers—whether mathematicians, engineers, clinicians, or researchers—with a foundational understanding of how silicon replaces the lost regulatory capacity of pancreatic beta cells.

This book is independently produced by the author Azhar ul Haque Sario and has no affiliation with any commercial artificial pancreas systems, their manufacturers, or regulatory bodies. References to specific technologies, algorithms, and models are made solely for the purpose of technical description and analysis under nominative fair use.

Life Sciences