By: Garabed Tashian

 Biomedical engineering is the application of engineering principles and techniques to the medical field.  Closes the gap between engineering and medicine by combining the design and problem solving skills of engineering in the medical field, in order to improve on healthcare.  Biomedical engineers help, in many ways, those suffering from diseases, such as diabetes.

 Diabetes is chronic disease involving abnormalities in the body's ability to use sugar.  This happens because the body either doesn’t produce enough insulin or the cells in the body don’t respond properly to the insulin being produced.  Includes elevated blood sugar for a long period of time and a deficiency in circulating insulin.  Nearly 24 million Americans have diabetes

 Hormone that has great affects on the metabolism  Insulin makes cells take glucose from the blood, storing it as glycogen in the liver.  When insulin isn’t present, the body uses fat as an energy source instead of insulin.

 Type 1  Results from autoimmune destruction of insulin- producing beta cells of the pancreas.  Beta cells make and release insulin.  When beta cells die, the glucose remains in the blood which can cause great harm to organs.  Increase in blood and urine glucose.

 Caused by the body not responding to the insulin being produced by the body in the right way.  Disorder that is characterized by high blood glucose in the context of relative insulin deficiency.

 Doesn’t mean you previously had diabetes or that you will have it after pregnancy.  Just an abnormality in blood sugar level during pregnancy.

 Type 1  Exact cause is unknown.  Caused by genes Type 2 - Also can be caused by genes, having relatives with type 2, increases your chance of developing it. -Obesity also causes type 2 diabetes - environment also can play a role in developing type 2 Gestational - Family, age, ethnic background, obesity

 Type 1  Occurs equally between males and females  Greatest in Asian, African, and American Indian populations Type 2 -Most common in elderly, especially overweight women. Gestational - Occurs in pregnant women, those with a background of the disease in their family, those who are older, and those who are obese.

 Type 1  Intense insulin therapy  Multiple injections daily, multiple checks of blood level and glucose level  Exercise and diet Type 2 -Monitoring blood levels and glucose levels 5-7 times daily. - take medications that increase insulin from pancreas and decrease glucose from liver -exercise and diet Gestational - exercise and diet -monitoring blood sugar level

 Many of the treatments for diabetes involve biomedical engineering.  Insulin pumps, glucose meters, insulin injectors, infusers, etc.  Pumps- release insulin when needed in the blood stream  Glucose meters- shows glucose in blood

 Glucose monitoring system recently invented  Every 5 minutes the sensor sends readings of the glucose level in blood  Instead of reading the level a couple times a day, it does it for you many times.  Used to avoid getting blood sugar high or low

 Biomedical engineers are trying to create this now.  It would deliver insulin to the body and tell what the glucose levels are in the body.  Would replace the human pancreas because it would do the same jobs.  Would allow people to not worry about their glucose level because it would automatically fix the problems they have.

 American Diabetes Association Home Page - American Diabetes Association. Web. 06 Mar  "Diabetes (Diabetes Type 1, Diabetes Type 2) Causes, Symptoms, and Diagnosis on MedicineNet.com." Web. 06 Mar  "Diabetes: Definition, Symptoms, and Treatment - Kellogg Eye Center." Kellogg Eye Center-University of Michigan-Ann Arbor MI- Ophthalmology. Web. 06 Mar  "Insulin -." Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Web. 08 Mar  Medtronic Diabetes: Diabetes Management Products, Education & Support. Web. 06 Mar   WebMD - Better Information. Better Health. Web. 06 Mar