Methods for the treatment of uncertainty in dynamical systems: Application to diabetes

[EN] Patients suffering from Type 1 Diabetes are not able to secrete insulin, thus, they have to get it administered externally. Current research is focused on developing an artificial pancreas, a control system that automatically administers insulin according to patient's needs. The work presented here aims to improve the efficiency and safety of control algorithms for artificial pancreas. Glucose-insulin models try to mimic the administration of external insulin, the absorption of carbohydrates, and the influence of both of them in blood glucose concentration. However, these processes are infinitely complex and they are characterized by their high variability. The mathematical models used are often a simplified version which does not include all the process variability and, therefore, they do not always match reality. This deficiency on the models can be addressed by considering uncertainty on their parameters and initial conditions. In this way, the exact values are unknown but they can be bounded by intervals that comprehend all the variability of the considered process. When the value of the parameters and initial conditions is known, there is usually just one possible behaviour. However, if they are bounded by intervals, a set of possible solutions exists. In this case, it is interesting to compute a solution envelope that guarantees the inclusion of all the possible behaviours. A common technique to compute this envelope is the monotonicity analysis of the system. Nevertheless, some overestimation is produced if the system is not fully monotone. In this thesis, several methods and approaches have been developed to reduce, or even eliminate, the overestimation in the computation of solution envelopes, while satisfying the inclusion guarantee. Another problem found during the use of an artificial pancreas is that only the subcutaneous glucose concentration can be measured in real time, with some noise in the measurements. The rest of the system states are unknown, but they could be estimated from this set of noisy measurements by state observers, like Kalman filters. A detailed example is shown at the end of this thesis, where an Extended Kalman Filter is used to estimate in real time insulin concentration based on the food ingested and in periodical measurements of subcutaneous glucose.[ES] Los pacientes que sufren de diabetes tipo 1 no son capaces de secretar insulina, por lo que tienen que administrársela externamente. La investigación actual se centra en el desarrollo de un páncreas artificial, un sistema de control que administre automáticamente la insulina en función de las necesidades del paciente. El trabajo que aquí se presenta tiene como objetivo mejorar la eficiencia y la seguridad de los algoritmos de control para el páncreas artificial. Los modelos de glucosa-insulina tratan de emular la administración externa de la insulina, la absorción de carbohidratos y la influencia de ambos en la concentración de glucosa en sangre. El problema es que estos procesos son infinitamente complejos y se caracterizan por su alta variabilidad. Los modelos matemáticos utilizados suelen ser una versión simplificada que no incluye toda la variabilidad del proceso y, por lo tanto, no coinciden con la realidad. Esta deficiencia de los modelos puede subsanarse considerando inciertos sus parámetros y las condiciones iniciales, de manera que se desconoce su valor exacto pero sí podemos englobarlos en ciertos intervalos que comprendan toda la variabilidad del proceso considerado. Cuando los valores de los parámetros y de las condiciones iniciales son conocidos, existe, por lo general, un único comportamiento posible. Sin embargo, si están delimitados por intervalos se obtiene un conjunto de posibles soluciones. En este caso, interesa obtener una envoltura de las soluciones que garantice la inclusión de todos los comportamientos posibles. Una técnica habitual que facilita el cómputo de esta envoltura es el análisis de la monotonicidad del sistema. Sin embargo, si el sistema no es totalmente monótono la envoltura obtenida estará sobrestimada. En esta tesis se han desarrollado varios métodos para reducir, o incluso eliminar, la sobrestimación en el cálculo de envolturas, al tiempo que se satisface la garantía de inclusión. Otro inconveniente con el que nos encontramos durante el uso de un páncreas artificial es que solo es posible medir en tiempo real, con cierto ruido en la medida, la glucosa subcutánea. El resto de los estados del sistema son desconocidos, pero podrían ser estimados a partir de este conjunto limitado de mediciones con ruido utilizando observadores de estado, como el Filtro de Kalman. Un ejemplo detallado se muestra al final de la tesis, donde se estima en tiempo real la concentración de insulina en plasma en función de la comida ingerida y de mediciones periódicas de la glucosa subcutánea con ayuda de un Filtro de Kalman Extendido.[CA] Els pacients que pateixen de diabetis tipus 1 no són capaços de secretar insulina, motiu pel qual han d'administrar-se-la externament. La investigació actual es centra en el desenvolupament d'un pàncrees artificial, un sistema de control que administre automàticament la insulina en funció de les necessitats del pacient. El treball que ací es presenta té com a objectiu millorar l'eficiència i la seguretat dels algorismes de control per al pàncrees artificial. Els models de glucosa-insulina tracten d'emular l'administració externa de la insulina, l'absorció de carbohidrats i la influència d'ambdós factors en la concentració de glucosa en sang. El problema és que estos processos són infinitament complexos i es caracteritzen per la seua alta variabilitat. Els models matemàtics emprats solen ser una versió simplificada que no inclou tota la variabilitat del procés i, per tant, no coincideixen amb la realitat. Esta deficiència dels models pot esmenar-se considerant incerts els seus paràmetres i les condicions inicials, de manera que es desconeix el seu valor exacte però sí podem englobar-los en certs intervals que comprenguen tota la variabilitat del procés considerat. Quan els valors dels paràmetres i de les condicions inicials són coneguts, existeix, en general, un únic comportament possible. No obstant, si estan delimitats per intervals s'obté un conjunt de possibles solucions. En este cas, interessa obtindre un embolcall de les solucions que assegure la inclusió de tots els comportaments possibles. Una tècnica habitual que facilita el còmput d'este embolcall és l'anàlisi de la monotonicitat del sistema. No obstant, si el sistema no és totalment monòton l'embolcall obtingut estarà sobreestimat. En esta tesi s'han desenvolupat diversos mètodes per a reduir, o fins i tot eliminar, la sobreestimació en el càlcul dels embolcalls, al temps que se satisfà la garantia d'inclusió. Altre inconvenient amb què ens trobem durant l'ús d'un pàncrees artificial és que només és possible mesurar en temps real, amb cert soroll en la mesura, la glucosa subcutània. La resta dels estats del sistema són desconeguts, però podrien ser estimats a partir d'este conjunt limitat de mesures amb soroll utilitzant observadors d'estat, com el Filtre de Kalman. Un exemple detallat es mostra al final de la tesi, on s'estima en temps real la concentració d'insulina en plasma en funció del menjar ingerit i de les mesures periòdiques de la glucosa subcutània amb ajuda d'un Filtre de Kalman Estés.Pereda Sebastián, DD. (2015). Methods for the treatment of uncertainty in dynamical systems: Application to diabetes [Tesis doctoral no publicada]. Universitat Politècnica de València. https://doi.org/10.4995/Thesis/10251/54121TESI

Parameter-Invariant Monitor Design for Cyber Physical Systems

The tight interaction between information technology and the physical world inherent in Cyber-Physical Systems (CPS) can challenge traditional approaches for monitoring safety and security. Data collected for robust CPS monitoring is often sparse and may lack rich training data describing critical events/attacks. Moreover, CPS often operate in diverse environments that can have significant inter/intra-system variability. Furthermore, CPS monitors that are not robust to data sparsity and inter/intra-system variability may result in inconsistent performance and may not be trusted for monitoring safety and security. Towards overcoming these challenges, this paper presents recent work on the design of parameter-invariant (PAIN) monitors for CPS. PAIN monitors are designed such that unknown events and system variability minimally affect the monitor performance. This work describes how PAIN designs can achieve a constant false alarm rate (CFAR) in the presence of data sparsity and intra/inter system variance in real-world CPS. To demonstrate the design of PAIN monitors for safety monitoring in CPS with different types of dynamics, we consider systems with networked dynamics, linear-time invariant dynamics, and hybrid dynamics that are discussed through case studies for building actuator fault detection, meal detection in type I diabetes, and detecting hypoxia caused by pulmonary shunts in infants. In all applications, the PAIN monitor is shown to have (significantly) less variance in monitoring performance and (often) outperforms other competing approaches in the literature. Finally, an initial application of PAIN monitoring for CPS security is presented along with challenges and research directions for future security monitoring deployments

Effect of Model, Observer and Their Interaction on State and Disturbance Estimation in Artificial Pancreas: An In-Silico Study

The state and disturbance estimations are an indispensable part of the state-of-the-art model-based controllers as related to the artificial pancreas, supporting the decision-making and self-tuning of the algorithms. They are not just important when state-feedback kind of controller structure is applied, but also play a crucial role in the estimation of, for example, the amount of the acting drug (insulin) in blood or meal intake estimation which has determining role in the short and long term effectivity of the given therapy. This information is also important for physicians to support them in knowledge-based decision-making to be sure a given therapy or device works well. This article compares three observers – a linear-parameter-varying (LPV) dual Kalman filter (KF), a LPV joint KF, and a nonlinear sliding mode observer (NSMO) – designed with two individualized models – Hovorka and Identifiable Virtual Patient model (IVP). The article also statistically quantifies the effect of the observer algorithm and model structure on the accuracy of the estimation of plasma insulin, rate of glucose appearance, and glucose. Data for the analysis was generated by the UVa-Padova simulator. Results indicated that, for the rate of glucose appearance and the plasma insulin, the type of model and the observer structure explain less than 10% of the variability in the error, while the inter-patient variability contributes to the error more than 50%. This reveals a limiting factor in the estimation accuracy that might be improved by model parameter adaptation

Deep learning methods for improving diabetes management tools

Diabetes is a chronic disease that is characterised by a lack of regulation of blood glucose concentration in the body, and thus elevated blood glucose levels. Consequently, affected individuals can experience extreme variations in their blood glucose levels with exogenous insulin treatment. This has associated debilitating short-term and long-term complications that affect quality of life and can result in death in the worst instance. The development of technologies such as glucose meters and, more recently, continuous glucose monitors have offered the opportunity to develop systems towards improving clinical outcomes for individuals with diabetes through better glucose control. Data-driven methods can enable the development of the next generation of diabetes management tools focused on i) informativeness ii) safety and iii) easing the burden of management. This thesis aims to propose deep learning methods for improving the functionality of the variety of diabetes technology tools available for self-management. In the pursuit of the aforementioned goals, a number of deep learning methods are developed and geared towards improving the functionality of the existing diabetes technology tools, generally classified as i) self-monitoring of blood glucose ii) decision support systems and iii) artificial pancreas. These frameworks are primarily based on the prediction of glucose concentration levels. The first deep learning framework we propose is geared towards improving the artificial pancreas and decision support systems that rely on continuous glucose monitors. We first propose a convolutional recurrent neural network (CRNN) in order to forecast the glucose concentration levels over both short-term and long-term horizons. The predictive accuracy of this model outperforms those of traditional data-driven approaches. The feasibility of this proposed approach for ambulatory use is then demonstrated with the implementation of a decision support system on a smartphone application. We further extend CRNNs to the multitask setting to explore the effectiveness of leveraging population data for developing personalised models with limited individual data. We show that this enables earlier deployment of applications without significantly compromising performance and safety. The next challenge focuses on easing the burden of management by proposing a deep learning framework for automatic meal detection and estimation. The deep learning framework presented employs multitask learning and quantile regression to safely detect and estimate the size of unannounced meals with high precision. We also demonstrate that this facilitates automated insulin delivery for the artificial pancreas system, improving glycaemic control without significantly increasing the risk or incidence of hypoglycaemia. Finally, the focus shifts to improving self-monitoring of blood glucose (SMBG) with glucose meters. We propose an uncertainty-aware deep learning model based on a joint Gaussian Process and deep learning framework to provide end users with more dynamic and continuous information similar to continuous glucose sensors. Consequently, we show significant improvement in hyperglycaemia detection compared to the standard SMBG. We hope that through these methods, we can achieve a more equitable improvement in usability and clinical outcomes for individuals with diabetes.Open Acces