Glossary

AP and OpenAPS high level terminology

APS or AP - artificial pancreas system. A term for a closed-loop automated insulin delivery system in which temporary basal adjustments are used to maintain BG levels at a user-specified target range.

closed-loop - closed-loop systems make automatic adjustments to basal delivery, without needing user-approval, based on an algorithm.

open-loop - open-loop systems will suggest recommended adjustments to basal delivery, but will require specific user-approval prior to implementing.

CGM - continuous glucose monitor, a temporary glucose sensor that is injected into your skin (the needle is removed) for 3-7 days and, with twice a day calibrations, provides BG readings approximately every 5 minutes.

#OpenAPS - stands for Open A(rtificial) P(ancreas) S(ystem). It is an open-source movement to develop an artificial pancreas using commercial medical devices, a few pieces of inexpensive hardware, and freely-available software. A full description of the #OpenAPS project can be found at openaps.org. #OpenAPS (with the hashtag) generally refers to the broad project and open source movement.

OpenAPS - refers to an example build of the system when used without a hashtag (#)

openaps - the core suite of software tools under development by this community for use in an OpenAPS implementation

oref0 - “reference design implementation version 0” of the OpenAPS reference design. Aka, the key algorithm behind OpenAPS.

BG - Blood Glucose

BGI (BG Impact) - The degree to which BG “should” be rising or falling. OpenAPS calculates this value to determine the ‘Eventual BG’. This value can be used to make other high/low basal decisions in advanced implementations of OpenAPS.

Bolus - extra insulin given by a pump, usually to correct for a high BG or for carbohydrates

Basal - baseline insulin level that is pre-programmed into your pump and mimics the insulin your pancreas would give throughout the day and night

IOB - Insulin On Board, or insulin active in your body. Note that most commercially available pumps calculate IOB based on bolus activity only. Usually, but not always, Net IOB is what Nightscout displays as ‘IOB’.

Net IOB - amount of insulin on board, taking into account any adjusted (higher or lower) basal rates as well as bolus activity.

Basal IOB - difference (positive or negative) between amount of insulin on board delivered via basal rates, and the amount specified by the profile basal rate.

Treatments IOB - amount of insulin on board delivered via boluses. Reported by some pumps as ‘active insulin’.

DIA - duration of insulin action, or how long the insulin is active in your body. (Ranges 3-6 hours typically)

CR - carb ratio, or carbohydrate ratio - the amount of carbohydrates for one unit of insulin. Example: 1 u of insulin for 10 carbs

ISF - insulin sensitivity factor - the amount of insulin that drops your BG by a certain amount. Example: 1 u of insulin for 40 mg/dL (2.2 mmol/L)

NS, or Nightscout - a cloud-based visualization and remote-monitoring tool.

OpenAPS specific terminology

OpenAPS Nightscout Status Messages appear when the OpenAPS plugin is enabled.

  • Looping ↻ - Success; Temp basal rate has been suggested.
  • Enacted ⌁ - Success; Temp basal rate has been set.
  • Not Enacted x - Success; No action taken on suggested temp basal rate.
  • Waiting ◉ - Timeout; No recent status received from OpenAPS.
  • Unknown

    ⚠

     - Error or Timeout; OpenAPS has reported a failure, or has reported no status for many hours.

Eventual BG - BG after DIA hours (or maybe a bit sooner if most of your insulin was awhile ago), considering the current IOB and COB.

Delta - difference between the last two BG values. An asterick (*) is displayed in Nightscout when estimating due to missing BG values.

Avg. Delta - average BG delta between 5 min intervals.

Exp. Delta - expected BG delta right now, considering all OpenAPS inputs (IOB, COB, etc).

snoozeBG - predicted value of blood glucose adjusted for bolussnooze IOB

predBGs - predicted blood sugars over next N many minutes based on openAPS logic, in 5 minute increments

​