The thesis focuses on the control of blood glucose devices and design of implantable devices
and offers valuable insights on diabetes mellitus and related physiology and treatments.
Diabetes mellitus is a widespread chronic disease in the modern world that affects millions of
people around the globe. In Singapore one in ten of the population has diabetes and the
severity of the problem has prompted the country's prime minister to talk about the disease at
the National Day Rally in 2017. Designing an artificial pancreas that can provide effective
blood glucose control for individuals with diabetes is one of the most challenging engineering
problems. The author reports on research into the development of an implantable artificial
pancreas that can regulate blood glucose levels by delivering appropriate dosages of insulin
when necessary. By sensing blood glucose and injecting insulin directly into the vein the
implantable device aims to remove delaysthat occur with subcutaneous blood glucose sensing and
insulin delivery. Preliminary in-vitro and in-vivo experimental results suggest that the
implantable device for blood glucose control could be a clinically viable alternative to
pancreas transplant.
