4. Modeling Glucose and Insulin Concentration Dynamics

Modeling of glucose and insulin concentration dynamics are discussed, and two different modeling approaches are presented. Physiological models describe the glucose and insulin dynamics with differential equations and physiological rules based on detailed understanding of the glucose and insulin dynamics, mass transfer and reaction kinetics. The chapter outlines progress in physiological modeling over the years. Alternatively, data-driven empirical modeling techniques have also been used to relate the effects of various measured inputs on glucose and insulin dynamics. The advantage of the latter is ease of model development with less information about glucose and insulin dynamics, and rapid model development and updating. Several empirical model types are presented and the technical steps to develop and evaluate them are outlined.