"Do it yourself" therapy for type 1 diabetes A Citizen Science project on the use of self-developed technologies for automated insulin delivery

Only in 2017 did the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) officially approve a system that automatically delivers insulin depending on the tissue glucose level. In Germany, insulin pumps with autocorrection dosing has been available since 2021. However, according to many patients with type 1 diabetes and parents of children with type 1 diabetes, the development of automated blood glucose control has lagged behind. Therefore, at the beginning of the 2010s, those affected and their relatives began to develop an artificial pancreas system themselves, a so-called (hybrid) closed loop system, which was made available freely on the web with all the necessary information. So far, this system and its effectiveness, such as the impact of its use on improved quality of life, have not been systematically evaluated. Against this background, a team of citizen scientists with type 1 diabetes and academic researchers investigated whether the use of such a "do-it yourself" technology can lead to better blood glucose levels and positive effects on quality of life. The aim of this article is to present the joint research process and insights into the project.