With facilities also in San Diego, Medipacs, has achieved successful operation and pumping of the first fluids through the Medipacs polymer gel proof of concept device. The proprietary Digital Pump technology is being developed to drive or pump fluids for drug delivery and infusion therapies in the medical market. This first pump10 cell prototype is the precursor to medical applications of the new technology that Medipacs is currently developing. Able to operate on under 3 volts of power the new device has produced repeated results by pumping, very small, milligram amounts of water continuously over several hours and has attained pressures of over 3 psi. The pump has no mechanical parts and works by using polymer gels that expand and contract from the electrical current. The new device is controlled by a small computer chip that is programmed to pump the desired rates. Plans for the new Digital PumpT technology include a new medical infusion pump, around the size of a cell phone, that will provide a low cost alternative to expensive infusion pumps currently on the market. Eventually the pumps will be available in other devices such as a drug delivery patch and implantable devices that can monitor patient fluids and deliver medicine at the same time.
