Performance and control of physiological parameters for diabetes mellitus

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Diabetes Mellitus is a common chronic disease that is an ever-increasing public health issue. It is characterized by the inability of the body to control blood glucose concentration, resulting in plasma glucose concentration elevated beyond the normoglycemic range. Most of the long-term health problems associated with diabetes are nephropathy, retinopathy, neuropathy, cardiovascular diseases and cerebral vascular events. Canadian data show that in 2005, 4.3% of adults (people 12 years of age and older) have been diagnosed with diabetes mellitus. According to the Public Health Agency of Canada, there are an estimated 60,000 new cases of diagnosed diabetes every year in Canada. Once the disease has been developed in a patient, the most important key to reduce mortality and morbidity is to have better control of blood glucose. Previous research has been focused mostly on Type 1 because of the complete depletion of islet cell functions in producing insulin. The majority of patients suffer from Type 2 which is due to mostly insulin resistance and limited insulin secretion by islet cells. Currently, Type 2 patients are being treated with oral medications. Some of them will eventually require insulin injection. The ultimate goal of this proposed research is to improve the quality of living for diabetic patients by applying well-developed modeling and assessment principles in engineering to type 2 diabetes mellitus. The immediate short-term objectives are to model the insulin resistance and impaired insulin production using a type-2-specific diabetic model obtained from published patient data, simulate the pharmacological impact of different medications, as well as improve the spectral measurements of a micro-sensor for glucose detection. The outcome from the current research will provide better understanding of the dynamic interactions of different chemical units (body compartments) and the pharmacological impact on the chemical process (glucose regulation), and the results can be used to guide treatment directions for patients.