Development of an Implantable On-Demand Drug Delivery Device for Behavioral Studies in Small Animals

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 DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The Specific Aim of this Phase I project is to prove the feasibility of using SFC Fluidics' patented microfluidic pumping technology to develop the RatPump, a low-cost, disposable, battery-operated, implantable, on-demand, tether-free drug delivery system. The RatPump will allow real-time wirelessly controlled delivery of drugs and therapeutics to animals for addiction and behavior research models. This implantable pumping system will have substantially improved operational capacities at a much lower cost as compared to current tethered and non- tethered drug delivery systems. During the last three months of Phase I, the RatPump will be implanted and tested in rats at the McLean Psychiatric Hospital at Harvard University. The following Phase I Tasks are designed to prove feasibility of this Specific Aim. Task 1: Integration of microfluidic components into an implantable, on-demand drug delivery device. (SFC Fluidics - Months 1-4) Task 2: Demonstration of controlled fluid movement ex vivo from the drug delivery system using specified test protocol. (SFC Fluidics - Months 5-6) Task 3: Demonstration of use of implanted RatPump showing ability to deliver drugs on- demand and remotely. (Harvard/McLean Medical School - Months 7-9) Phase II will focus on modifying the Phase I RatPump prototype based on the results of Phase I testing and iterative advanced development. By the end of Phase II, SFC Fluidics will have a final design RatPump system that will deliver on-demand doses of drugs and therapeutics with an accuracy of +/- 5%. The focus of our subcontractor in Phase II will be to improve his drug addiction models as enabled by the RatPump, and to provide those data in publications, scientific conferences, and collaborations in order to facilitate the use of the RatPump toward the advancement of drug addiction models in other laboratories.