Analysis of the performances of various controllers adopted in the biomedical field for blood glucose regulation: a case study of the type-1 diabetes

J Med Eng Technol. 2024 May 17:1-13. doi: 10.1080/03091902.2024.2353036. Online ahead of print.

Abstract

Diabetes remains a critical global health concern that necessitates urgent attention. The contemporary clinical approach to closed-loop care, specifically tailored for insulin-dependent patients, aims to precisely monitor blood glucose levels while mitigating the risks of hyperglycaemia and hypoglycaemia due to erroneous insulin dosing. This study seeks to address this life-threatening issue by assessing and comparing the performance of different controllers to achieve quicker settling and convergence rates with reduced steady-state errors, particularly in scenarios involving meal interruptions. The methodology involves the detection of plasma blood glucose levels, delivery of precise insulin doses to the actuator through a control architecture, and subsequent administration of the calculated insulin dosage to patients based on the control signal. Glucose-insulin dynamics were modelled using kinetics and mass balance equations from the Bergman minimal model. The simulation results revealed that the PID controller exhibited superior performance, maintaining blood glucose concentration around the preferred threshold ∼98.8% of the time, with a standard deviation of 2.50. This was followed by RST with a success rate of 98.5% and standard deviation of 5.00, SPC with a success rate of 58% and standard deviation of 2.99, SFC with a success rate of 55% and standard deviation of 10.08, and finally LCFB with a rate of 10% and significantly higher standard deviation of 64.55.

Keywords: Artificial pancreas system; controller; glucose; insulin; model.