Smallest, Cheapest Patch Insulin Pump

Infusion pumps that deliver insulin and other drugs have been getting quite advanced thanks to modern wireless technology. Yet, many people around the world simply can't afford even existing pumps.

With this in mind, Touch�Medical, an Israeli firm, is developing a small, cheap, and accurate infusion pump that would be within the budgets of millions of diabetics and people with other diseases treated by drug pumps.

The device has a disposable cartridge that is particularly cheap to manufacture, and a reusable core that contains the actual pump and the electronics to drive it. It includes Bluetooth connectivity to be able to interface it with a smartphone can even send out SMS messages to keep physicians and loved ones informed on how the drugs are being delivered.

Avi Keret of Touch�Medical stresses that he and his inventor son Amir are not reinventing the wheel, rather making it more universally accessible. "Our device gives the same amount of medication as any other pump; it just delivers the drug in a way that allows for a better quality of life," he said.

The device would be especially welcome, he believes, in parts of India and other Asian countries with a rising diabetes rate and a high incidence of thalassemia, a genetic blood disorder often affecting multiple members of the same family. A patch pump is the best solution for administering lifesaving medication continuously, but the high cost forces many of these families to share one device, compromising its effectiveness.

"We'll offer them an alternative," Keret pledges. "People who have or don't have medical insurance will be able to afford it. Children all over the world will be able to use it."



Source: Medindia