Model predictive control of blood glucose in critically ill patients using Gaussian processes

Stress-induced hyperglycemia and high glycemic variability are common in intensive care patients. Several clinical studies show the benefits of tight blood glucose control, including lower mortality. This article presents an algorithm for blood glucose control in the intensive care unit. An Unscented Kalman Filter is developed to estimate the glucose metabolism state and time-varying insulin sensitivity from blood glucose measurements. Gaussian Processes are used to predict future insulin sensitivity changes based on previous measurements. A model predictive controller is designed to estimate optimal insulin infusion based on current state, predicted insulin sensitivity and planned nutrition. The developed control algorithm allows individualized blood glucose control with reduced glycemic variability and reduced risk of hypoglycemia in the intensive care unit.