Science Buddies: "Ask an Expert"

Hi,

I am conducting a science fair experiment based on the resources from the Dealing with Diabetes: The Road to Developing an Artificial Pancreas site. I see that this experiment is simply a "yes or no", or can you build it or not. Do you have any suggestions as to how to add a clear independent and dependent variable to this experiment, and have quantitative data as well?

Thank You

Hi QBSMC,

Welcome to Science Buddies. You have posted your question in someone else’s topic, so I will ask the moderator to move your question and my reply to a different topic.

http://interestingengineering.com/world ... -approved/

The project on the Science Buddies website is excellent, but, unfortunately the first artificial pancreas just been approved by the FDA so developing a unique project idea on this topic will be challenging.

https://www.sciencebuddies.org/science-f ... p040.shtml

http://www.usnews.com/news/business/art ... e-diabetes

If you read the news article and look at other sources, you will see that there are a few missing pieces needed for a perfect product, and you may be able to identify something about the design that can be improved. This might be a good approach to developing a successful, unique project.

Please do more background reading from as many sources as you can find to identify a project idea. Please do post again if you have other questions.

Donna

Hi QBSMC ,

You have your own topic now.

I realized that I did not answer your question about the experiment, so here is an explanation. .

In thia experiment, a model chemical reaction is used to evaluate the function of the artificial pancreas device. A solution of baking powder is mixed with vinegar until the pH is neutral, as shown by the color change bromthymol blue, which is a pH indicator.

For an experiment, you would use different concentrations of baking powder solution and measure the amount of vinegar needed to turn the indicator green (neutral pH). The quantity of baking powder would be the independent variable and the quantity of vinegar would be the dependent variable. Results could be presented on a graph.

I hope this helps. Please do let me know if you have any other questions.

Donna

Hi,

Here are some more resources to help you find an original project idea. For additional information about current DIY research and opensource innovation for closed and hybrid loop pumps, please see: https://openaps.org/

There are many people using openAPS as a way of setting up their own artificial pancreas projects.

In the world of Type 1 Diabetes, openAPS is a very well-know project. There are several others you can research as well that are offshoots of this. Many of these also use Nightscout as a way to provide browser-based visualization of data from a continuous glucose monitor. For those with an openAPS setup (or other "loop"), Nightscout can also be used to visualize pump information.

If you end up looking at other diabetes-related projects, this landing page at Science Buddies can give you some ideas.
https://www.sciencebuddies.org/diabetes

I hope thiw helps. Let me know if you have any questions.

Donna