Weekly Update 27

Final Deliverables

This week started with the exiting anouncement of the final deliverables for the project, which we will be working on for the next four weeks:

• a poster for the project and concept overview
• a short video featuring SiMA
• a presentation (on May 7th)
• an advanced whitepaper

Design Finalization

To start working on the deliverables we needed to find answers to the open questions in our design solution first.
Therefore we started a final round of research on batteries, heating, sensor technologies, materials and so on.
Also we met for a online scribble session. By the end of the week we made the following design decisions:

Patch:
Our patch will consist out of 7 layers

1. Backing Layer – to protect the medication layer and other components of the patch (e.g. against water)
   Like this the patch can be worn 24/7 without any limitations for the user.
2. Main Reservoir & Battery – a small interchangable battery at the top of our patch to power all the electronic components and a medication reservoir containing the medication in a solvent to keep it liquid
   The battery will be exchanged at the pharmacy when the medication is refilled, therefore the user does not have to worry about charging the patch.
   The Main Reservoir will contain enough medication for an average treatment plus a reserve.
3. Electronic layer – with a chip  to control LEDs and to connect to a Data Management and Analization Tool and small IR LEDs to heat the patch
   The chip will recieve information form the Data Management and Analization Tool to adjust the medication dosage in order to allow an individual treatment for the user.
4. Metal Nanoparticles – to generate heat in combination with IR light
   Heated patches will increase the permeability of the skin and therefore decrease the amount of medication that is needed.
5. Small Reservoir – to contain the dosage for the next treatment interval
   This allows the adjustment of the treatment to current vital parameters of the user.
6. Adhesive Layer – with LED lights and a photo diode to detect the closest blood vessel and open the micro channels near this blood vessel
   With this feature the best spot to apply medication will be found and therefore the user will benefit from a reduction of the dosage.
7. Electronic field – The electronic field will resemble the one of a touchscreen and ensure skin contact of the patch.
   Like this the patch can be activated and user and doctor will be notified, if the skin contact is broken and the therapy is stopped to early, in order to remind the user to finish therapy according to plan and to inform the user about the risks of an unfinished therapy.

Next steps

Next week we will have the chance to present our concept to an external and we are looking forward to her insights.
Also we will continue to work on our poster and video.
And we are excited for our first virtal pub quiz.