June 9, 2025 – The University of Virginia Center for Diabetes Technology study finds that adaptive biobehavioral control technology using digital twin simulations improved the performance of the UVA-developed artificial pancreas system for patients living with Type 1 Diabetes (T1D), increasing the time spent in safe blood sugar range from 72% to 77% and reducing average Hemoglobin A1c levels from 6.8% to 6.6%. The digital twin technology allows users to simulate virtually the effects of adjustments in insulin dosing before making the changes in real life.
“Artificial pancreas systems require adjustments by those who use them to adapt to a person’s changing insulin demands,” said Boris Kovatchev, PhD., Director of the UVA Center for Diabetes Technology. “This is the first study that maps each person to their ‘digital twin’ in the cloud and enables people with diabetes to experiment with their own data to learn how their artificial pancreas system would react to changes, in a safe simulation environment, before adjusting their system.”
Adaptive biobehavioral control technology is designed to improve blood-sugar control during the day, when fluctuations occur more frequently due to meals and physical activity. This new technology uses “digital twins,” computer models simulating how a person’s body processes sugar. The models help the artificial pancreas keep up with changes in the user’s body and habits and give users a way to interact with the system. For example, users can try different settings, like how much insulin is released overnight, using the simulation before applying them in real life.
“Human-machine co-adaptation is critical for conditions like Type 1 diabetes, where treatment decisions are made both by the artificial pancreas algorithm and the person who wears it,” Kovatchev said. “Digital-twin technology is very helpful in facilitating this co-adaptation.”