The invention means much safer dosing for patients reliant on a continual supply of medicine from medicine pumps, such as patients with cerebral palsy. When the medicine pumps are surgically inserted under the skin, small volumes of muscle relaxant medication can continually be released by the spinal cord to control spasms. Cancer patients can use a portable morphine pump for pain relief, while diabetic patients can have the pleasure of a medicine pump for round-the-clock insulin dosing.
The tiny invention has already generated considerable attention with senior scientist Liv Furuberg fielding business enquiries from three international medical equipment producers.
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New micro instrument controls medicine flows
SINTEF research scientists at the Micro and Nanotechnology Laboratory in Oslo have developed a flow metre with fluid channels thinner than a strand of hair. The new device controls that patients receive the correct dosage of medicine.
