Progress in development of an artificial pancreas.

This issue of Journal of Diabetes Science and Technology contains a collection of 12 original articles describing the latest advances in the development of algorithms for controlling insulin delivery in an artificial pancreas. Algorithms presented in this issue are affected by numerous quantifiable factors, including insulin pharmaco-kinetics, timing of meal carbohydrate appearance, meal size, amount of exercise, presence of stress, day-to-day variations in insulin sensitivity, insulin time-activity profiles, accuracy of glucose monitor calibration, metabolic profiles of both adults and neonates, and risks of hypoglycemia/hyperglycemia. These articles present theoretical advances in insulin delivery algorithms from modeled in silico patients, as well as clinical data from actual patients who have used closed loop systems. The novel approaches described in these articles are expected to bring us much closer to realization of a commercially available closed loop system for controlling glucose levels in patients with diabetes. 2009 Diabetes Technology Society.