Type 1 Diabetes Interactive 3D Visualization

Rebuild Type 1 diabetes in one HTML file, from the whole body down to a single molecule.

THE BROKEN MESSAGE

Type 1 diabetes isn't caused by sugar, weight or lifestyle. It's autoimmune: the immune system destroys the beta cells in the pancreas that make insulin.

Those cells live in tiny clusters called islets, about 1–2% of the pancreas. After a meal, they sense rising glucose and release insulin. Insulin signals muscle and fat to take glucose in, and tells the liver to release less.

In Type 1, that signal disappears.
The fuel is still there. The message is missing.
So glucose builds up in the blood.

With almost no insulin, the body breaks down fat fast and the liver makes ketones. They can build up into diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA), a medical emergency.

Insulin therapy doesn't cure Type 1. It replaces a signal the body can no longer provide adequately, through injections or a pump. The daily challenge is balance: too little and glucose rises, too much and it can fall dangerously low. Food, exercise, stress and timing all change the picture.

Technology helps. A CGM tracks glucose every few minutes, and automated insulin delivery (AID) adjusts insulin based on those readings.

In the build, you can compare Healthy vs Type 1 vs Type 1 + insulin on the same meal, drag one slider from INTACT to BROKEN to watch the signal fade, follow a glucose molecule through the body, and explore CGM, pumps and AID.

Type 1 diabetes changes the system.
It doesn't define the person.

Built in Three.js. Educational visualization, not medical advice.