Nanopump, a small device with huge potential

Interview with Robert Hodges, Lab-on-Chip Business Unit Director, Carrollton, USA

We’re pleased to announce a strategic cooperation with Debiotech which is a Swiss company located in Lausanne. The objective of the cooperation is to manufacture and deliver to the market a miniaturized insulin-delivery pump. The ‘Nanopump’ is about a quarter of the size of existing pumps and can be worn as an invisible patch on the skin. Using microfluidic MEMS technology, it draws insulin from a storage reservoir and infuses it into the tissue under the skin – offering an attractive alternative to insulin injections that need to be administered several times a day. And because the Nanopump is much smaller than other devices, patients don’t have to worry about holding the pump in place or concealing it under clothing.

The highly miniaturized disposable insulin pump combines Debiotech’s expertise in insulin delivery with ST’s strength in manufacturing high-volume silicon-based microfluidic devices. The insulin Nanopump was developed by Debiotech which won them the Swiss Technology Award in 2006. The industrialization efforts led by ST will leverage our growing experience in the biomedical market and we hope this can make a big difference in the lives of diabetic patients around the world. Other bio-tech programs within ST’s Microfluidics Division include the In-Check Lab-on-Chip platform currently being applied to the detection of sepsis and Avian flu.

Anton Hofmeister, Group VP and General Manager of ST’s Microfluidic Division, said: “ST’s increasing focus on applying its semiconductor manufacturing processes and growing experience in microfluidic biotech applications gives us the potential to improve the lives of millions of people around the world”. We expect the Nanopump to be available in select markets in 2008.