The concept is simple, within the pump a pH responsive polymer actuator swells in volume under electrically controlled stimulus. As the actuator swells it presses against a drug reservoir, as the reservoir collapses the drug is metered out to the patient. From concept to finished product, engineering this smart system entailed integration across multiple fields of science and engineering. Materials science, nanotechnology, polymer chemistry, organic chemistry, electrochemistry, molecular engineering, electrical engineering, and mechanical engineering all played a part in solutions to multiple technical hurdles. Some of these hurdles where overcome by tried and true materials and component engineering, others where resolved by some very creative out of the box thinking and tinkering. This paper, hopefully, will serve to encourage others to venture into unfamiliar territory as we did, in order to overcome technical obstacles and successfully develop a low cost smart medical device that can truly change a patient's life.

Date Published: 29 March 2012
PDF: 11 pages
Proc. SPIE 8343, Industrial and Commercial Applications of Smart Structures Technologies 2012, 83430I (29 March 2012); doi: 10.1117/12.915529

Published in SPIE Proceedings Vol. 8343:
Industrial and Commercial Applications of Smart Structures Technologies 2012
Kevin Farinholt; Steven F. Griffin, Editor(s)