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    • Algorithm FAQs

    Does Loop "learn" or detect changes in your insulin needs?

    The answer is both Yes and No.

    Yes in that:

    No in that:

    Perhaps in subsequent versions of Loop, auto-adjustment of settings or machine learning could be incorporated. Until then, you will need to tell Loop if your underlying settings change or make temporary adjustments for short term issues.

    The use of Overrides can be quite helpful for short-term changes.

    What does negative Active Insulin mean?

    When Loop withholds or suspends some of your scheduled basal insulin, that starts an accumulation of insulin deficit. If you have a kinked cannula and insulin is not delivered, you'd call yourself "lacking insulin" (negative IOB).

    When Loop reports negative IOB, it is a sign that Loop has been actively helping you prevent a low blood sugar. If you find significant negative IOB regularly, you probably need to adjust/test your settings. Glucose that continues to decrease (away from a meal) when IOB goes negative is typically a sign that the scheduled basal rate is too high.

    Developer Notes

    Scheduled basal rates are meant to counteract your endogenous glucose production. Another way of saying this is that Loop expects your body to be producing an amount of glucose at a rate that is handled by your basal insulin settings.

    Your body doesn't really produce glucose at a fixed rate, but that's how it's modeled in Loop.

    "All models are wrong, but some are useful." (Quote attributed to British statistician George E. P. Box.)

    How is IOB calculated?

    Insulin on board (IOB) is calculated from the amount of insulin delivered above or below the scheduled basal rate. For each dose of insulin, the insulin model is used to determine how much of that insulin is active over time. Loop is adding up all the amounts over the full Duration of Insulin Action (DIA). The DIA is 6 hours for most rapid insulin in the models used by Loop.

    IOB is plotted on the Active Insulin Chart in the main Loop display.

    How do Delivery Limits Affect Automatic Dosing?

    With each cycle, Loop generates a glucose prediction and a recommended dose (positive or negative) to bring you to your correction range.

    Let \(\mathit{dose}\) be the amount the app thinks you need for this cycle before considering Delivery Limits. The relationship between \(\mathit{dose}\), delivery limits: \(\mathit{maximumBolus}\) and \(\mathit{maximumBasalRate}\), and current IOB: \(\mathit{currentIOB}\) are detailed in the following sections:

    Manual Dose

    In this case, where you are manually requesting a bolus recommendation by using the double orange triangles (circled below) in the toolbar at the bottom of the Loop status screen, only the \(\mathit{maximumBolus}\) Delivery Limit is considered.

    Loop toolbar

    Automatic Dose

    Because this will be an automatic dose, the app will not provide a dose that would exceed an IOB of 2 times the \(\mathit{maximumBolus}\). The term automatic dose refers to insulin the app automatically delivers above your scheduled basal rate.

    \[ autoDose = minimum (dose, {2*maximumBolus} - currentIOB) \]

    Note that a manual dose can exceed \(\mathit{autoDose}\). There will be no warning if this happens. But no additional automatic dosing will happen until IOB is below \(\mathit{2*maximumBolus}\). As long as the prediction is above the correction range, scheduled basal continues regardless of IOB.

    Automatic Bolus: Constant Partial Application Factor

    There is a new feature coming with the next release, available now with customization or the development version, called Glucose Based Partial Application Factor. This feature is disabled by default. When disabled, the Partial Application Factor is a constant 40%.

    Automatic Bolus: Glucose Based Partial Application Factor

    When Glucose Based Partial Application Factor is enabled, the application factor is modified based on the current glucose level. The value ranges from 20% at lower glucose to 80% at higher glucose. Let \(\mathit{gbpa\%}\) represent the application factor, then:

    Temp Basal Only

    This automatic method uses both Delivery Limits: \(\mathit{maximumBasalRate}\) and \(\mathit{maximumBolus}\). As explained above, the \(\mathit{maximumBolus}\) is used to calculate \(\mathit{autoDose}\).

    The desired dose, \(\mathit{autoDose}\), is multiplied by two (to get an hourly rate) and then added to the scheduled basal rate to determine the desired temporary basal rate (\(\mathit{BR_temp}\)) with a duration of half-an-hour to provide that amount of insulin. This calculated \(\mathit{BR_temp}\) is compared to \(\mathit{maximumBasalRate}\).

    More Algorithm Information

    There is more detail about the Loop Algorithm at the bottom of the Operate tab.