Mind the Loop
Mind the Loop was a filmed conversation and Q&A session, hosted at the Institute of Biomedical Engineering, exploring the treatment and experience of type 1 diabetes.
Nick and Tobie had taken part in public dicussion about digital plaster, at the Dana centre in January 2008. This technology was presented as a platform for monitoring the body, an example application was an artificilal pancreas, providing a closed loop system for the control of type 1 diabetes.
above:
Nick provided a physicians perspective, and Tobie offered his interpretation of the platform as a designer. Responses were invited from the floor, and at this point Ros spoke about her experiences of diabetes, and described her insulin pump, which represents the latest technology for the control of diabetes.
By offering an everyday experience of diabetes, Ros's contribution provided an opportunity for a discussion about the digital plaster that was complimentary to the designerly and medical descriptions of the platform. There seemed to be something worth exploring, in terms of this combination of perspectives. Notably absent from the Dana event was a technical understanding of the platform, and so Pantelis has been invited to join Mind the Loop.
above: weekly data from a glucose monitor shows high and low levels detected by the sensor.
Films
above:Pantelis describes how an artificial pancreas is designed.
above: Ros describes how she manages diabetes.
above: Nick and Tobie during the Q&A session.
Images from the meeting
above: The equipment on this bench tests the ability of the artificial pancreas to match the behaviour of the beta cells in real pancreas, see this page for a description of the research
above: The silicon beata cell measures changes in blood sugar level in order to control the release of insulin - the voltage generated by this supply represents the level of glucose in the body.
above: Steve filming Ros, Pantelis and Nick - short films were made as a document of the discussions.
above: Ros, Pantelis and Nick discuss the data that is produced as by the Medtronic software embedded in Ros's insulin pump.
above: Ros and Pantelis discuss how an insulin pump is used, along with the benefits and limitations of the system.
above: Steve looks on, possibly considering his next shot!
Mind the Loop took place at the Institute of Biomedical Engineering on Wednesday March 19th 2008. Many thanks to Ros, Pantelis, Nick and Steve for their time.