This process started out simply and built up to the closed-loop technologies we know today, like the MiniMed 780G. However, in order to get there, the company needed engineers with a background in control systems.
Lintereur, the company’s chief engineer for MiniMed 670G and MiniMed 780G system, says those who study biomedical engineering don’t tend to gain that knowledge or study automatic control systems, or “control theory.” Typically, that’s reserved for other forms of engineering, including aerospace, which was the field Medtronic recruited him from.
Before Medtronic, Lintereur worked with a space company called Hughes Space Communications, developing pointing control systems for satellites. He wound up at NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center, designing flight control systems for experimental aircraft.
A career in medtech never even registered on Lintereur’s radar, he told Drug Delivery Business News. However, his move to Medtronic led to significant advancements in the company’s insulin delivery technology, as he played a significant role in the development of the company’s two latest pumps.
“It was that background and control system development that made me attractive to Medtronic as they started to develop this umbrella of technologies you might describe as artificial pancreas systems or automated insulin delivery systems,” Lintereur said. “So, I was able to apply my knowledge in that particular area of technology to insulin delivery systems, and I haven’t looked back since.”
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