SFC Fluidics of Fayetteville has received $175,000 in Phase 1 funding from the National Institutes of Health for the development of an infusion pump for drugs used in small animal research. The device called the Min-ePump is implantable, wirelessly controlled and allows for rapid dosing in such as animals as rats.
With this pump rats can be unto untethered and even able to self-administer controlled doses of a drug.
A multitude of research areas can benefit from untethered animal behavior models including Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, substance abuse, PTSD and depression.
“We are excited about broadening the application of our miniaturized patch pump system for research that can potentially help millions of people around the world who are struggling with social, mood and behavior disorders,” said Forrest Payne, a senior scientist at SFC Fluidics who is the principal investigator on the project.