Treating pediatric brain cancer can be a challenge since the brain has ways to protect itself from drugs taken orally or intravenously. One solution is to develop and use a miniature implantable infusion pump that is no bigger than two small cookies stacked together. The implantable pump not tethered to an outside power source would make it possible for humans using the pump to move around and experience daily life.
The hope is to improve the treatment for a devastating type of cancer, called leptomeningeal metastases which afflicts the lining of the brain and spinal cord. The device when implanted in the abdomen would be able to send chemotherapy into the spinal fluid or direct delivery to the brain.
The pump would be able to send the correct amount of medicine to where it is needed and would allow children to remain at home. This process would be easier for young patients so they would not need to endure spinal taps several times a week with a hospital stay.
The technology is still experimental as the pump is a new innovation. It has a tether-free wirelessly activated release system with the capability to precisely control the infusion of drugs into the body using bubble power. That means that the power of electrolytically generated bubbles rather than a motor will make it different to use than other available infusion pumps.
The pump was developed through a grant titled “Establishing an Innovation Ecosystem for Technology Transition of MEMS-based Drug Infusion Pumps” with funding of $50,000. The grant was awarded through the National Science Foundation Innovation Corps Program (I-Corps), a public private partnership program that teaches grantees to identify valuable product opportunities that can emerge from academic research.
To further commercialize the new pump, Ellis Meng, a National Science Foundation funded Scientist, and Associate Professor of Biomedical and Electrical Engineering at the University of Southern California, co-founded Fluid Synchrony LLC a startup company.
Meng’s plan is to promote the high performance micro-pumps for laboratory research and preclinical research ultimately for use in humans. The pumps are not yet available in the market as they are undergoing animal studies to ensure that the devices are safe and that they work. Human trials are probably several years away.
According to Meng, “The pumps will provide a safer, more convenient, and comfortable alternative to current drug delivery approaches. The NSF I-Corps experience was instrumental in getting this technology one step closer to the hands of patients.”