Hard Seal Positive Displacement Pump for Insulin Delivery
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional insulin pumps are cumbersome, expensive, and require multiple components, which can be inconvenient and uncomfortable for users, while also potentially degrading drug formulations due to the use of elastomeric materials in the fluid path.
Innovation Solution
A compact, positive displacement pump with a reciprocating motion, featuring a housing, sleeve, and piston design made of polypropylene, which eliminates elastomeric materials from the fluid path and incorporates a helical slot and pin mechanism for precise control, reducing the overall size and improving assembly and dosing accuracy.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If conventional insulin pumps use multiple components and elastomeric materials, then they can deliver insulin continuously, but they become heavy, cumbersome, and potentially degrade drug formulations
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines the fluid reservoir, pumping mechanism, and cannula insertion mechanism into a single integrated housing. This merging of previously separate components into one unified device reduces overall complexity while maintaining continuous insulin delivery capability, directly addressing the contradiction between reliability and device complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent removes elastomeric materials from the fluid path by using hard-sealed polypropylene components instead. This extraction of harmful materials eliminates drug formulation degradation while maintaining the pump's continuous delivery function, resolving the contradiction between reliability and material composition.
2Adaptability or versatility
If conventional insulin pumps include multiple components and tubing, then they can provide programmable delivery schedules, but they become inconvenient and bothersome for users
Solution Approach 1:
By integrating the reservoir, pump mechanism, and cannula system into a single compact housing, the patent eliminates the need for separate tubing and infusion sets. This unified design maintains programmable delivery capabilities while significantly improving user convenience and reducing the burden of managing multiple separate components.
3Reliability
If the pump uses elastomeric materials in the fluid path, then it can be flexible and sealable, but it degrades drug formulations
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the material parameter from elastomeric to hard-sealed polypropylene. This material substitution maintains sealing capability through precise mechanical fitting and hard-seal connections while eliminating the drug degradation issue associated with elastomeric materials, resolving the contradiction between reliability and manufacturability.
4Ease of operation
If conventional pumps are made portable, then they can be worn by patients, but they remain heavy and cumbersome
Solution Approach 1:
The integration of all functional components into a single housing eliminates redundant structures and reduces the overall component count. This merging directly reduces the pump's weight and bulk, making it more portable and comfortable for patients to wear throughout the day.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The solution results in a smaller, more stable, and efficient insulin delivery system that minimizes discomfort and dosing errors, maintaining drug stability and enhancing user convenience and quality of life.
Implementation Method 1
a positive displacement pump comprises: a housing; a sleeve disposed radially within the housing
Implementation Method 2
an outer conical shape of a first end of the sleeve contacts a conical inner shape of a first end of the housing, thereby sealing the first end of the sleeve to the first end of the housing
Data Source
AI summary
A hard seal, positive displacement pump is provided which may be included within a fluid delivery system. The pump includes a housing, a sleeve disposed radially within the housing, and a piston disposed radially within the sleeve. An outer shape of a first end of the sleeve contacts a correspondingly-shaped inner shape of a first end of the housing, thereby sealing the first end of the sleeve within the first end of the housing. The piston is radially and axially moveable within the sleeve, and an axially-reciprocating motion of the piston within the sleeve opens and closes a pump chamber defined between a first end of the piston and a first end of the sleeve.