Nanopump Drug Delivery

Filed in archive Biotech on July 8, 2008

Photo courtesy of iStockphoto, Image# 1494911

Have you heard of the Nanopump? Well, Debiotech in Switzerland is developing the Nanopump to micro-dose medications by utilizing a volumetric membrane pump with a pair of check valves and integrating in a MEMS chip. According to their description: "The chip is a stack of 3 layers bonded together: a silicon on insulator (SOI) plate with micromachined pump-structures and two Pyrex cover plates with through-holes. This MEMS chip is assembled with a piezoelectric actuator that moves the membrane in a reciprocating movement to compress and decompress the fluid in the pumping chamber." Wow! The company is currently developing an insulin Nanopump and also a device that can be implanted into the body.