# A pulse-driven micropump for continuous drug delivery > **NIH NIH R21** · VIRGINIA POLYTECHNIC INST AND ST UNIV · 2024 · $205,291 ## Abstract A pulse-driven micropump for transdermal drug delivery PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT Ambulatory infusion pumps are an increasingly prescribed therapy modality for cancer and diabetes patients, post-operative pain management, and more. They allow patients to receive necessary medication infusions, but are often bulky, tethered to the user with tubing, and associated with pain at the insertion site. These shortcomings make drug regimen adherence harder for infusion pump users, particularly those with chronic conditions. To eliminate barriers to infusion therapy adherence, there is a critical need for compact, lightweight infusion devices that don’t impede physical activity. Our long-term goal is to improve infusion therapy adherence by developing featherweight arterial pulse-driven infusion pump technology that eliminates the need for painful cannula insertions and motors and batteries to facilitate pumping. Our overall objectives in this project, the next steps toward our long-term goal, are to (i) characterize the infusion rate capabilities of a prototype pulse-driven micropump based on our recent advances in bio-inspired microfluidic pump technology, and (ii) tune the micropump design to deliver a set of target infusion rates within its range by way of physical experiments, computational modeling, and AI-guided optimization. Our central hypothesis is that our pulse- driven microfluidic pump technology, which mimics natural biological function, can provide drug delivery rates appropriate for clinical applications like ambulatory chemotherapy for a wide range of users with varying arterial pulse profiles. Our hypothesis is based on preliminary data demonstrating the proof-of-concept that our prototype micropump can be powered by the human radial artery pulse and produce flow rates appropriate for chemotherapy and insulin delivery. The project’s rationale is that, before the proposed pulse-driven micropump can be developed for clinical use, its capabilities must be characterized, allowing its design to be optimized for specific applications. To attain these objectives, the following specific aims will be pursued. First, we will determine the dependence of the micropump flow rate on device design parameters and arterial pulse characteristics using in vitro and in vivo tests with rapid prototype micropumps produced using microfluidic fabrication techniques and 3D printing; next, we will develop a 3D finite element model (FEM) of the prototype micropump; finally, we will use an evolutionary algorithm along with human subject and porcine skin transdermal flow rate testing to develop an initial set of 6 wearable infusion patch pump designs integrated with microneedle arrays. Upon project completion, we expect our contribution to be a featherweight pulse-driven infusion pump capable of producing a wide range of infusion rates that can be integrated into low-cost, disposable infusion devices the size of a nicotine patch, or in state-of-the-art closed-loop and ... ## Key facts - **NIH application ID:** 10871478 - **Project number:** 1R21EB035655-01 - **Recipient organization:** VIRGINIA POLYTECHNIC INST AND ST UNIV - **Principal Investigator:** Anne Staples - **Activity code:** R21 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.) - **Funding institute:** NIH - **Fiscal year:** 2024 - **Award amount:** $205,291 - **Award type:** 1 - **Project period:** 2024-07-01 → 2027-04-30 ## Primary source NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10871478 ## Citation > US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10871478, A pulse-driven micropump for continuous drug delivery (1R21EB035655-01). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-28 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10871478. Licensed CC0. --- *[NIH grants dataset](/datasets/nih-grants) · CC0 1.0*