Specific programme: ECSEL - JTI 2019

The European initiative ECSEL (Electronic Components and Systems for European Leadership) is a Joint Technology Initiative (JTI) between the European Commission and the Member States in which Spain participates through this State Secretariat, developed within the framework of the Horizon 2020 R&D&I Programme.

Its objective is to promote R&D in electronic components and systems aimed at fostering European ICT industrial leadership in disruptive and enabling digital technologies in the areas of 5G, Supercomputing, Robotics, Internet of Things (IoT), Artificial Intelligence, etc.

PCI2020-112000 Project funded by MICIU/AEI /10.13039/501100011033 and by the European Union NextGenerationEU/PRTR

APCIN code: PCI2020-112000

UPV/EHU: Beneficiary

UPV/EHU IP: Jose Luis Pedraz

Project start: 01/06/2020
Project end: 31/05/2023

Brief description:

In an effort to move away from traditional syringe-based treatments, which are associated with trypanophobia (fear of needles) and therefore lead to low patient adherence to treatment, the use of auto-injectors has become a very common technique. However, some autoinjectors have limited customization (e.g., in matters such as dose, volume, or delay time), are generally single-use, have little or no programming capability, are customized to deliver a particular dose of a specific medication, are not intelligent, do not collect patient/clinician feedback, or do not have misuse or connectivity failure prevention locks.

All of these features make these autoinjectors fail to improve patient adherence (i.e., failure to take medication as prescribed).

In this project, we will develop autoinjector technology by combining modern microsystem technologies to produce miniature and discrete, yet high-performance and highly functional wearable injectors. The primary goal is the integration and deployment of a micropump, into a connected, sensorized, wearable autoinjector patch that will result in considerable savings in the development and testing of small, unobstructable devices. Furthermore, the low pump flow rates (~nL) will allow the highly concentrated drug to be safely released, leading to a reduction in reservoir capacity and a further reduction in overall patch size. The platform will be remotely programmable and treatment adherence data will be transmitted to the patient and physician. Associated microsensors will monitor system performance and shut down the pump if conditions are not met. UPV/EHU will be involved in an additional module for automatic rehydration and delivery of lyophilized drugs. This polymeric component, which will be integrated within the microfluidic device using specific techniques, will use dedicated mixing elements to ensure good interaction between the fluid and the lyophilized reagent in preparation for delivery by the pump.

PCI2020-112000 project funded by MICIU/AEI/10.13039/501100011033 and by the European Union NextGenerationEU/PRTR