Science Buddies: "Ask an Expert"

I am looking into doing the Life with Diabetes: Artificial Pancreas Project, and I am looking for a testable question. My original question was "How the amount of glucose affects the amount of insulin produced?", but I am unsure of how to test that through quantitative data. I was thinking of changing my question to test the different conductors but was unsure of what the controlled would be. Are there ways to test these questions? Please assist.

Greetings!
First, is your project testing in type 1 diabetes or type 2? Although similar, there are key differences between the two. Here is a link that you can find through Science Buddies to help brainstorm some testable questions using an artificial pancreas. Hope this helps. Cheers.

https://www.sciencebuddies.org/science- ... l-pancreas

I am trying to test type 1, but I am still unsure of how to form a testable question to answer through experiment for this topic. And use quantitative data to analyze.

Hi there,

I hope you're having a great day! Here are my thoughts on the Life with Diabetes: Artificial Pancreas Project and responses to your questions.

First, do remember that this project models an artificial pancreas, where your voltage readings are resembling blood glucose levels, and the circuit itself is resembling insulin "turning on and off". You will obtain quantitative data by plotting the sensor reading as a function of time. This plot will resemble or mimic insulin production. Using the data from this model, you can then speculate or discuss how glucose levels may affect the production of insulin in a real-life scenario, such as the one you have posed. Because this project models an artificial pancreas, also keep in mind that the times you record may not recapitulate the physiological processes actually happening in the body. In other words, depending on how elevated blood glucose become after a meal, it may take longer for insulin-mediated glucose uptake to occur and drop levels into the "normal" range.

There are also some variations for this project at the bottom of the project page. There are even options to construct a real artificial pancreas, if that is of interest to you.

Hope this helps! Please feel free to reach out if you need clarification or have additional questions/discussion points about this project!

--Brandi

Thank you so much! I had one more question, I had a different pump type - a 5v submerge pump. Will this still work in terms of cutting on an off, if not how to I manipulate the test?