New technologies for art therapy interventions tailored to severe disabilities.

Individuals with multiple disabilities can have a wide range of characteristics depending on the combination and severity of the disabilities, such as intellectual disability, mobility issues, sensorial impairment, language issues and brain injury. New technologies can help therapists find an alternative way to engage and interact with clients by opening a communication window and starting to build the therapeutic relationship. The need to use more customized technological tools led us to develop the Painteraction system, an intuitive tool based on Augmented Reality that allows clients to be immersed in their own images.

Clinical validation of a new control-oriented model of insulin and glucose dynamics in subjects with type 1 diabetes.

Background: The development of an artificial pancreas requires an accurate representation of diabetes pathophysiology to create effective and safe control systems for automatic insulin infusion regulation. The aim of the present study is the assessment of a previously developed mathematical model of insulin and glucose metabolism in type 1 diabetes and the evaluation of its effectiveness for the development and testing of control algorithms.

Methods: Based on the already existing "minimal model" a new mathematical model was developed composed of glucose and insulin submodels.

Control oriented model of insulin and glucose dynamics in type 1 diabetics.

The aim of the study was to realize a mathematical model of insulin-glucose relationship in type I diabetes and test its effectiveness for the design of control algorithms in external artificial pancreas. A new mathematical model, divided into glucose and insulin sub-models, was developed from the so-called "minimal model". The key feature is the representation of insulin sensitivity so as to permit the personalisation of the parameters.

Nonlinear model predictive control of glucose concentration in subjects with type 1 diabetes.

A nonlinear model predictive controller has been developed to maintain normoglycemia in subjects with type 1 diabetes during fasting conditions such as during overnight fast. The controller employs a compartment model, which represents the glucoregulatory system and includes submodels representing absorption of subcutaneously administered short-acting insulin Lispro and gut absorption. The controller uses Bayesian parameter estimation to determine time-varying model parameters.

Closing the loop: the adicol experience.

The objective of the project Advanced Insulin Infusion using a Control Loop (ADICOL) was to develop a treatment system that continuously measures and controls the glucose concentration in subjects with type 1 diabetes. The modular concept of the ADICOL's extracorporeal artificial pancreas consisted of a minimally invasive subcutaneous glucose system, a handheld PocketPC computer, and an insulin pump (D-Tron, Disetronic, Burgdorf, Switzerland) delivering subcutaneously insulin lispro. The present paper describes a subset of ADICOL activities focusing on the development of a glucose controller for semi-closed-loop control, an in silico testing environment, clinical testing, and system integration.