Miniature disposable drug infusion pumps with improved safety features and embedded computer control

86% of battlefield deaths occur within two hours of wounding. Large, heavy infusion pumps are unavailable to provide fluid replacement and IV medication when and where it is most needed, costing many of these lives. Medication errors take even more lives. TheraFuse has prototyped a miniature, solid state, optical flow sensor able to make measurements every millisecond at 3% accuracy. This sensor obviates the need for a precision pump and enables closed loop control of any miniature fluid propulsion technology, thereby creating a safe and accurate quarter sized disposable infusion system. Medication error reduction software available from our partner Baxter Healthcare would save additional lives. When coupled with the patient's vital signs, automated pump setup and control becomes feasible, driving the infusion to a pre-programmed therapeutic endpoint. In Phase I, TheraFuse will evaluate fluid propulsion methods to determine which combination of sensor and fluid propulsion technology best fills the military need. In Phase II prototypes will be constructed and tested using animals. TheraFuse's staff has over fifty years combined IV infusion experience. TheraFuse's expertise and technology can create the smallest, safest, most accurate and reliable disposable infusion system for military and civilian use.