Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune condition characterised by a pancreatic insulin secretion deficit, resulting in high
blood glucose concentrations, which can lead to micro- and macrovascular complications.
Type 1 diabetes also leads to impaired
glucagon production by the pancreatic α-cells, which acts as a counter-regulatory
hormone to
insulin. A closed-loop system for automatic
insulin and
glucagon delivery, also referred to as an
artificial pancreas, has the potential to reduce the self-management burden of
type 1 diabetes and reduce the risk of hypo- and
hyperglycemia. To date, bihormonal closed-loop systems for
glucagon and
insulin delivery have been based on two independent controllers. However, in physiology, the secretion of
insulin and
glucagon in the body is closely interconnected by paracrine and endocrine associations. In this work, we present a novel biologically-inspired
glucose control strategy that accounts for such coordination. An in silico study using an FDA-accepted type 1 simulator was performed to evaluate the proposed coordinated control strategy compared to its non-coordinated counterpart, as well as an
insulin-only version of the controller. The proposed coordinated strategy achieves a reduction of
hyperglycemia without increasing
hypoglycemia, when compared to its non-coordinated counterpart.