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The goal of this project is to design a drug delivery system for protein-containing drugs like insulin. Oral tablets and patches are an available means for many drugs, but proteins cannot be administered in this fashion. If a protein is ingested, the stomach acid will denature it and render the medication useless to the patient. Proteins also cannot be absorbed through the skin because they are too large, thus a patch is not plausible. A protein must be injected into the patient for it to be useful. Currently a variety of pump delivery systems are available on the market, but these machines are very costly and usually provide sporadic injections based on a computer program. The novel protein drug delivery system will be a small, disposable, and relatively inexpensive device. It will provide a constant injection rate of the specified drug for an 8 to 24 hour period. The device will be worn on the abdomen of the patient and will not interfere with the patient’s lifestyle.
This is an example of a current device made by MiniMed. Devices like these cost between $5,000 and $7,500.
Left to right: Austin, Sarajane, Andrew, Becky, Mike, and Chris--The Drug Pump
team
Here is a picture of our prototype:
After completing the final prototype and presenting at the BME Design Expo on December 3, we are extremely pleased with the progress we made in developing a disposable drug delivery system. We turned
in all deliverables and attended a final meeting with our advisor on Friday,
12/10/04. Our client has expressed interest in continuing this project in the
spring semester, and as a team we will discuss the possibility of taking on this project again.
These are two computer-generated 3D-rendered images that Chris made for us:
This is a picture of the final prototype in its Plexiglas enclosure:
| Week | Reporting Period Beginning | Activities |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | September 3 | Formed team and chose drug pump project. Setup client meeting. |
| 2 | September 10 | Met with client to determine product specifications. Wrote PDS draft. |
| 3 | September 17 | Finalized PDS - completed background research, mentor-groups met |
| 4 | September 24 | Completed preliminary design report and PDS. |
| 5 | October 1 | Met to design and develop presentation for 8 October |
| 6 | October 8 | Decided on Final Design |
| 7 | October 15 | Met with client to discuss materials |
| 8 | October 22 | Worked on Design/Prototype |
| 9 | October 29 | Worked on Design/Prototype |
| 10 | November 5 | Built and tested Prototype I |
| 11 | November 12 | Redesigned prototype - Built prototype II |
| 12 | November 19 | Finished prototype II - testing |
| 13 | November 26 | Finalized poster presentation and practiced for Friday’s Expo |
| 14 | December 3 | Revised and finished final paper and turned in all deliverables |
 |
Product Design Specifications (PDS) (Sep 28 2004, 24 kb) |
 |
Mid Semester Power Point Presentation (Oct 7 2004, 632 kb) |
|
Mid-Semester Paper (Oct 13 2004, 856 kb) |
|
Final Presentation (Dec 2 2004, 4645 kb) |
|
Final Paper (with PDS) (Dec 8 2004, 1117 kb) |
