Robin Koops

Robin Koops (born 1971) is a Dutch mechanical engineer, designer and inventor. He is known for developing an artificial pancreas.

Early career Koops is the son of a metalworker from Stork. He went to the , a technical school and form of vocational education. He started his career as a designer for the meat packing industry. Next to general appliances he designed schnitzel flatteners, machines to remove the clips from sausages after drying, and machinery to create a cross carving on beef.

Development of the artificial pancreas Diabetes diagnosis In 1998 Koops was diagnosed with diabetes type 1 The disease forces patients to continuously pay attention to their body, or suffer serious consequences. Koops found this very inconvenient, and began to think of a mechanical replacement for his failing pancreas in about 1994. In 2010 the Academic Medical Center (Amsterdam) in Amsterdam received 10.5 million euros from the European Union for development of the AP. In 2011 clinical studies started.

Apart from safety, usability is paramount for the AP. The first prototype looked like a rollator. It had wheels, a programmable logic controller and two built in laptops. In 2010 a wearable prototype, the size of a backpack was made. The next prototype was the size of a box on the user's belt.

In 2021 a prototype of Inreda's artificial pancreas was included in the collection of science museum Boerhaave in Leiden. It is placed next to the Artificial kidney, developed by Willem Johan Kolff. This was also remarkable because Koops was inspired by Kolff's story when visiting the museum.

Inreda AP CE marking The artificial pancreas developed by Inreda Diabetic is called the Inreda AP. In February 2020 Inreda Diabetic received the CE marking for the Inreda AP, which guarantees safety. After the CE marking came in, steps were taken to further reduce size, to scale up production, and to set up training and customer service. Meanwhile, research on the AP continues.

The Inreda AP, as used in 2020, has two sensors. The sensors are a challenging part of an automated insulin delivery system or AP. The two sensors of the Inreda AP are exactly the same, and allow a measurement and a check of this measurement. In case of two differing measurements, the wearer has to check his blood the old way in order to determine which sensor is correct. Another reason to use two sensors, is that a sensor has to be replaced every week, and requires twelve hours to adjust, two of them are used. This measure allows a new sensor the time to adjust, and allows detection of problems.

In use with 100 patients In October 2020 the health insurance company Menzis and Inreda started a pilot with 100 patients insured by Menzis, who use the AP instead of the traditional treatment.

Awards In 2019 Koops and his company Inreda Diabetic received the (translation: National Icon) prize, awarded each year by the Ministry of Economic Affairs and entrepreneurial organizations for innovative companies.