With the help of a $3.4 million grant from the National Institutes of Health, a research team at the University of Virginia School of Medicine, led by Boris P. Kovatchev, PhD, is attempting to perfect a closed loop system that will automate the monitoring of blood glucose levels and the delivery of insulin for type-1 diabetes patients.

By using a modified Android smartphone to both read the results of a digital glucose monitor and control a digital insulin pump, this “artificial pancreas” will use sophisticated algorithms in conjunction with cloud-based computing to optimize the blood sugar of type-1 diabetes sufferers. The real-time communication between the devices and the project’s servers will facilitate high quality data collection in conjunction with on-demand telemedicine services should something worrisome be detected.

Click here to read more about this research from the University of Virginia School of Medicine.