Behavioral modeling of diabetes for decision support

01.08.2023–24.12.2024
commissioned research
Project leader: Andreas KÖRNER (E101-03-3)

The thyroid gland forms a regulated system in conjunction with the pituitary gland and the hypothalamus due to their mutual influence through the hormones they release. The equilibrium point of this system, the so-called set point, is individual, which means that determining the correct amount of medication to be administered to patients with hypothyroidism requires several treatment appointments and therefore a long time. The long-term goal is to develop a medical assistance tool that determines the set point based on previous measurements and makes a medication recommendation for a person in the sense of individualized medicine. This project forms the proof of concept for that goal.
Time-based mathematical models were examined in the first phase of this project and validated and verified with existing data. Based on the selected main model, the development of an app to support medical staff was designed. App programming, ethical aspects and data-related factors, which are addressed in the project, are covered by the project partners involved. A large-scale study will be designed to evaluate the app in clinical practice, and the data for validation will be collected and exchanged in cooperation with the Medical University of Vienna.

The project will be completed at the end of 2024. Project partners from FH Campus Wien were Peter PUTZ, Cornelia FEICHTINGER and Verena KOLLMANN, who took over the work of conceptualizing the clinical study. Another partner was Birgit POHN from FH Technikum Wien, who was responsible for implementing the app. Marjo RAUHALA from the Department of Responsible Research Practices supervised the ethical aspects of the clinical study design.

The project was a success in terms of the proof of concept. All project partners submitted positive evaluations, but it also became clear from the initial validations and verifications that more research needs to be done in the mathematical model development.
The two project members wrote their diploma theses as part of this project and are now PhD students at TU Wien and Queensland University of Technology, Australia.

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Project members: Clara HORVATH, Corinna MODIZ