Tiny Pump

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A Tiny Pump Promises Big Time Performance: BU Invention Could Sweeten

Diabetes Therapy Within Five Years

June 2003 - C.J. Zhong hopes that within the next three to five years

diabetics the world could see their quality of life enhanced by his tiny

invention-a

chip-sized pump with no moving parts. The device is also expected to find

its way into myriad industrial and environmental applications, where it

could

mean huge savings in manufacturing and monitoring processes.

Zhong's patent on the low-power, electrically driven pumping device is one

of the reasons the State University of New York has broken into the U.S.

Patent

and Trademark Office's list of the top 10 patent-producing U.S.

universities, jumping to 8th in 2002 from 17th in 2001.

Zhong was among four Binghamton researchers honored last week by State

University of New York Chancellor L. King for their contribution to

the advancement

of humanity through groundbreaking research. Zhong was recognized with a

First Patent Award for his device.

An assistant professor of chemistry at Binghamton since 1998, Zhong refers

to the invention as a " pumpless pump " because it lacks mechanical parts. The

pumping device is the size of a computer chip and could be fabricated at a

scale comparable to an adult's fingernail. The device comprises a detector,

a column filled with moving liquid, and an injector. The pumping action is

achieved when a wire sends an electrical voltage to two immiscible fluids in

a tiny column, perhaps as small as the diameter of a hair. Applying opposite

charges to each side of the column causes the fluids to oscillate, thereby

simulating the action of a pump. In some ways, the tiny system works like a

thermostat: it takes a small sample, analyzes it, and tells other components

how to act in response.

Zhong's device has significant potential in the treatment of diabetes

because it is small enough to be inserted into and remain in the body where

it would

conduct microfluidic analysis, constantly measuring the need for insulin

and, then, delivering precise amounts of insulin at the appropriate times.

Because

the detector would remain constantly at work, the device could eliminate the

need for regular blood tests. Moreover, because less time would have passed

between infusions of insulin, it is likely that insulin levels could be

better maintained, without soaring and surging as dramatically as they

sometimes

do with present day treatment strategies. While his device is not an

" artificial pancreas, " Zhong says that it could well prove to be an integral

part

of a system that could someday become just that.

Diabetics are not the only ones who will benefit from the tiny pumping

device, developed by Zhong and his research team of undergraduate and

graduate students

and a post-doctoral researcher. Any small, closed environment could benefit

from tiny equipment that requires little fuel and produces no waste, he

said.

" For example, there's the space shuttle, " Zhong said, " If you want to

analyze the water quality, this would allow you to take as small a sample as

possible. "

That would make it possible for astronauts on an especially long mission to

ensure the potability of their water supply without significantly depleting

their supply by repeated testing, he added.

Zhong's pumping device can also be operated by remote control, working where

human hands cannot -- or should not reach. " One of the labs we're working

with

on this project is interested in dealing with metal contaminants from

nuclear waste, " said Zhong. " Their current technology is to go in the field,

take

samples of contaminated soil, and analyze them back in the lab. What we want

to do is make remote controllable portable chip devices that sit in the

field. "

Making lab equipment smaller and more efficient is one of Zhong's chief

research goals. It's a goal he sees as highly achievable.

" Look at the computer, " he said. " Twenty years ago, it was huge. Now it's

tiny. " He eventually hopes to create what he calls a " lab on a chip, " by

shrinking

down all of the equipment in a chemistry lab to the size of computer chips.

Smaller equipment not only uses fewer resources, he said, but creates less

waste.

" Large equipment typically generates significant waste, " he said, " But if

you use a miniature instrument, there's almost no waste. " For example,

because

his new pump is so small, it runs on an electrical current supplied by a

tiny battery. A conventional pump requires the power of a generator, which

needs

gasoline and emits toxic fumes as a byproduct.

Regardless of the size at which it is produced, the design of Zhong's device

has any number of advantages over current technologies. " Mechanical parts

need

maintenance and repair, " he said. " This is basically a fluid pumping

mechanism, " with no need for lubrication, repairs, or spare parts. Produced

at the

scale of a chip, it is also practically weightless, especially compared to a

conventional pump.

Right now, Zhong's invention is still in the prototype stage, but the

weightless, maintenance-free and implantable " pumpless pump " probably is not

too far

off, he speculated. " We are not there yet, but this is going to take off

very fast, " he said. " Perhaps three to four years. "

That might not seem soon enough for diabetics who would gladly trade lancets

and blood test strips for a tiny internal sensor attached to an insulin

pump.

But Zhong's miniature invention nevertheless seems likely to soon be making

life much sweeter for many in the health care, manufacturing and

environmental

arenas.

Source: Binghamton University

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