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Re:Open-source automated insulin delivery system given appro... by hirundo on Sunday November 14, 2021 @10:19AM (#29217677)
I imagine reviewing a pull request for a repo like this and shudder in horror. I've never understood a significant piece of software in my life to the degree that I'd be confident having it control the contents of someone's bloodstream. I know many programmer's don't have the luxury of having only bugs that can't kill people. I'm just glad I'm not one of them. With the best of my intentions and skills, every app I've written has ultimately been a house of cards, supportable only by extensive testing, that can and does fall over at a stern thought. I'd like to write truly robust software but it doesn't look like one of my practical options at the moment.
Re:Open-source automated insulin delivery system given appro... by twobitshifter on Sunday November 14, 2021 @10:44AM (#29217854)
Standards must be followed and testing can add a great deal of safety. And for an individual contributor, there could be potential liability if standards weren't followed. Even so, I think in terms of social value per line of code, you'd feel much better spending your time on a project like this.

We should understand that the alternative is very imprecise: poking yourself and trying to time the right delivery of insulin doses, based on your current blood sugar, exercise levels, meals, etc. It's a guessing game with diabetics, so this is a giant leap forward in making them healthier, even if the tech wasn't 100% perfect.

My dad had been lethargic as he ages, the doctors just told him that the level he was maintaining his blood sugar at was much lower than he should be at for his age. They also gave him an in-arm blood sugar reader. The difference from these small changes has been enormous. He seems more alert and healthier than he has in the last couple of years and he keeps more on top of the sugar levels with the new reader. My point here is that people risk their own lives trying to manage their own blood sugar, and even the smallest tech add, like a device that suggests the right insulin dose can be life altering. Diabetics who fail to manage their blood sugar properly can lose limbs and go blind. Given the choice of going it alone or using a technology used by many others, I know what I'd choose.

Re:Open-source automated insulin delivery system given appro... by heisenzombie on Sunday November 14, 2021 @06:44PM (#29221876)
Yes it's always worth remembering the alternative. In this case, the algorithm

    insulin_dose(blood_glucose, activity, carbohydrate, fat, protein, time_of_day, time_of_month, is_saturn_in_retrograde, **kwargs)
has to get run: Either a microcontroller does it or a person (tired? hungry? intoxicated? distracted?) has to do do it in their head.
Re:Open-source automated insulin delivery system given appro... by nwallin on Sunday November 14, 2021 @07:28PM (#29222137)
Sure, but a tired/hungry/drunk/distracted human failure mode is "fuck it, it was 22 units 12 this morning, 22 units yesterday evening, 22 units yesterday morning, I'll just do 22 units." A tired/drunk/hungry/distracted human isn't going to calculate a dose of -1 units of insulin and inject 4,294,967,295 units.
Re:Open-source automated insulin delivery system given appro... by heisenzombie on Sunday November 14, 2021 @09:47PM (#29223072)
Yes, it's possibly true that failure modes could be more extreme.

Practically, in the discussed system the pumps themselves have built-in maximum boluses so the control-loop is limited in how badly it can fuck up. Of course, you have to trust the pump firmware...

That said, I've done some pretty stupid shit. Like the time I injected a huge bolus of novorapid, thinking I was doing my Lantus shot. Ugh.

Re:Open-source automated insulin delivery system given appro... by ThalesX on Sunday November 14, 2021 @08:02PM (#29222381)
What would stop a tired/drunk/hungry/distracted human from overdosing as they sometimes do?
Re:Open-source automated insulin delivery system given appro... by Aloha on Sunday November 14, 2021 @08:48PM (#29222697)
or underdosing.

Like, software can have failsafes and error handling, but at some point any healthcare product may require user intervention.

Re:Open-source automated insulin delivery system given appro... by khuey on Sunday November 14, 2021 @09:27PM (#29222935)
In this particular use case, overdosing is a far worse failure mode than underdosing.
Re:Open-source automated insulin delivery system given appro... by icehawk on Sunday November 14, 2021 @09:30PM (#29222956)
Exactly, a human won't won't dose 4,294,967,295 units, but dosing 4 units instead of 2 units is still a thing can drop you to 30mg/dl, as has happened with my SO.
Re:Open-source automated insulin delivery system given appro... by walterbell on Sunday November 14, 2021 @10:26AM (#29217723)
If my life depended on a piece of software, I would choose the programmer who understood the impossibility of their task.
Re:Open-source automated insulin delivery system given appro... by tsol on Sunday November 14, 2021 @05:25PM (#29221318)
I think one of the considerations with open source medical software like this is price-- for many who can't afford anything better its a suitable risk, perhaps with excess monitoring by the user. The ideal situation is for everyone to have easy access to the best equipment, but in some countries that just isn't possible. Not to 'shoo' away your concerns, I do think the still need to be accounted for, but I don't think they represent a roadblock for such an initiative
Re:Open-source automated insulin delivery system given appro... by pimeys on Monday November 15, 2021 @03:18AM (#29225009)
Also there is nothing comparable to AndroidAPS available in the market that allows you to keep crazy good balance. The price is the learning curve, but the documentation is good.
Re:Open-source automated insulin delivery system given appro... by the_d3f4ult on Sunday November 14, 2021 @12:55PM (#29218979)
Don't forget that if you miss an edge case lawyers will take your house and your life savings. Welcome to medicine = )
Re:Open-source automated insulin delivery system given appro... by alexmcc81 on Sunday November 14, 2021 @10:32AM (#29217768)
There are standards they likely have to follow, e.g. IEC 62304.
Re:Open-source automated insulin delivery system given appro... by go_elmo on Sunday November 14, 2021 @02:55PM (#29220056)
Theres also the possibility to verify things, which is at least as much effort as to write it in the first place but then you know it wont kill anyone.