Closed-loop glucose and/or insulin control system

1. A method comprising:

determining a recommended therapy for a patient derived from signals representative of blood-glucose sensor measurements; and

generating a signal to initiate an alarm to an attendant in response to detection of a suggested change in said recommended therapy based, at least in part, on signals representative of subsequent blood-glucose sensor measurements and an indication of a predetermined predisposition for hypoglycemia in said patient obtained independently of said subsequent blood-glucose sensor measurements.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein said recommended therapy comprises infusion of insulin in said patient at a set infusion rate.

3. The method of claim 2 , and further comprising:

calculating an insulin infusion rate based, at least in part, on a proportional, plus integral, plus derivative (PID) command associated with a subsequent command cycle; and

establishing a new insulin infusion rate for said subsequent command cycle as said calculated infusion rate if a difference between an insulin infusion rate in a current command cycle and said calculated infusion rate exceed a predetermined threshold.

4. The method of claim 1 , and further comprising:

forecasting a blood-glucose level in said patient in a subsequent command cycle; and

determining said suggested change commencing in said subsequent command cycle based, at least in part, on said forecasted blood-glucose level.

5. The method of claim 4 , and further comprising:

determining a proportional, plus integral, plus derivative (PID) command associated with said subsequent command cycle;

determining a rate of insulin infusion for said suggested change in said recommended therapy based, at least in part, on said ND command if said forecasted blood glucose level exceeds a predetermined threshold blood glucose level.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein said recommended therapy comprises an infusion of a bolus of glucose.

7. The method of claim 6 , and further comprising determining a size of said glucose bolus based, at least in part, on a magnitude of at least one proportional, plus integral, plus derivative (PID) command associated with a command cycle.

8. The method of claim 6 , and further comprising:

forecasting a blood-glucose level in said patient in a subsequent command cycle; and

selectively providing a command for infusion of a bolus of glucose based, at least in part, on a proportional, plus integral, plus derivative (PID) command associated with said subsequent command cycle if said forecasted blood-glucose level does not exceed a threshold blood glucose level.

9. The method of claim 1 , and further comprising:

determining at least one current proportional, plus integral, plus derivative (PID) command based, at least in part, on blood-glucose sensor measurements processed in a current command cycle; and

determining at least one subsequent PID command based, at least in part, on blood-glucose sensor measurements processed in a subsequent command cycle.

10. The method of claim 9 , and further comprising detecting said suggested change in said recommended therapy based, at least in part, on said at least one current PID command.

11. The method of claim 9 , wherein at least one component of said at least one current PID command comprises a derivative component, the method further comprising:

determining a blood glucose derivative based, at least in part, on values of blood glucose sensor measurements obtained at times separated by a sample interval; and

limiting said sample value to a predetermined minimum sample value.

12. The method of claim 9 , wherein at least one component of said at least one current PID command comprises an integral component, the method further comprising:

integrating a difference between an estimated blood glucose and a target blood glucose over an integration interval; and

limiting the integration interval to a predetermined maximum integration interval.

13. The method of claim 1 , wherein said determining and said generating are performed by one or more processors programmed with instructions to perform said determining and said generating.

14. The method of claim 1 , wherein said recommended therapy comprises a continuous infusion of glucose.

15. The method of claim 1 , wherein the predisposition for hypoglycemia in said patient comprises one or more of the following:

a diagnosis of sepis infection;

an acute physiology and chronic health evaluation (APACHE) score or other indication of illness based on admission diagnosis;

a diagnosis of organ failure;

an indication of diagnosis of hemodynamic shock;

a history of diabetes mellitus; and

any evidence of previous hypoglycemic episodes during hospital stay.

16. An apparatus comprising:

an output device; and

one or more processors to:

determine a recommended therapy for a patient derived from signals representative of blood-glucose sensor measurements; and

generate a signal to said output device to initiate an alarm to an attendant in response to detection of a suggested change in said recommended therapy based, at least in part, on signals representative of subsequent blood-glucose sensor measurements and an indication of a predisposition for hypoglycemia in said patient obtained independently of said subsequent blood-glucose sensor measurements.

17. The apparatus of claim 16 , wherein said recommended therapy comprises infusion of insulin in said patient at a set infusion rate.

18. The apparatus of claim 17 , wherein said one or more processors are further to:

calculate an insulin infusion rate based, at least in part, on a proportional, plus integral, plus derivative (PID) command associated with a subsequent command cycle; and

establish a new insulin infusion rate for said subsequent command cycle as said calculated infusion rate if a difference between an insulin infusion rate in a current command cycle and said calculated infusion rate exceed a predetermined threshold.

19. The apparatus of claim 16 , wherein said one or more processors are further to:

forecast a blood-glucose level in said patient in a subsequent command cycle; and

determine said suggested change commencing in said subsequent command cycle based, at least in part, on said forecasted blood-glucose level.

20. The apparatus of claim 19 , wherein said one or more processors are further to:

determine a proportional, plus integral, plus derivative (PID) command associated with said subsequent command cycle; and

determine a rate of insulin infusion for said suggested change in said recommended therapy based, at least in part, on said PID command if said forecasted blood glucose level exceeds a predetermined threshold blood glucose level.

21. The apparatus of claim 16 , wherein said recommended therapy comprises an infusion of a bolus of glucose.

22. The apparatus of claim 21 , wherein said one or more processors are further to determine a size of said bolus of glucose based, at least in part, on the magnitude of at least one PID command associated with a command cycle.

23. The apparatus of claim 21 , and further comprising wherein said one or more processors are further to:

forecast a blood-glucose level in said patient in a subsequent command cycle; and

provide a command for infusion of a bolus of glucose based, at least in part, on a proportional, plus integral, plus derivative (PID) command associated with said subsequent command cycle if said forecasted blood-glucose level does not exceed a threshold blood glucose level.

24. The apparatus of claim 16 , and further comprising wherein said one or more processors are further to:

determine at least one current proportional, plus integral, plus derivative (PID) command based, at least in part, on blood-glucose sensor measurements processed in a current command cycle; and

determine at least one subsequent PID command based, at least in part, on blood-glucose sensor measurements processed in a subsequent command cycle.

25. The apparatus of claim 24 , wherein said one or more processors are further to detect said suggested change in said recommended therapy based, at least in part, on said least one current PID command.

26. The apparatus of claim 24 , wherein at least one component of said at least one current PID command comprises a derivative component, and wherein the one or more processors are further to:

determine a blood glucose derivative based, at least in part, on values of blood glucose sensor measurements obtained at times separated by a sample interval; and

limit said sample value to a predetermined minimum sample value.

27. The apparatus of claim 24 , wherein at least one component of said at least one current PID command comprises an integral component, and wherein the one or more processors are further to:

integrate a difference between an estimated blood glucose and a target blood glucose over an integration interval; and

limit the integration interval to a predetermined maximum integration interval.

28. The apparatus of claim 16 , wherein said recommended therapy comprises a continuous infusion of glucose.

29. The apparatus of claim 16 , wherein the predisposition for hypoglycemia in said patient comprises one or more of the following:

a diagnosis of sepis infection;

an APACHE score or other indication of illness based on admission diagnosis;

a diagnosis of organ failure;

an indication of diagnosis of hemodynamic shock;

a history of diabetes mellitus; and

any evidence of previous hypoglycemic episodes during hospital stay.