Drug administration is an essential tool in laboratory animal research that enables studies ranging from basic molecular/cellular mechanisms to drug discovery to preclinical development of new therapies. However, there is a significant technological gap in the development of advanced dosing strategies; current technologies do not meet the needs of animal care providers and researchers across academia and industry. The development of autonomous dosing in laboratory animals is necessary to improve drug administration capabilities and also enhance the use and management of laboratory animals. To address the critical needs of stress-free animal care and handling, the arrayable and wireless FluidSyncTM microinfusion system is proposed to enable automated, high throughput drug administration in an intelligent vivarium. Rodents housed in integrated vivarium cage rack units will have FluidSyncTM miniature infusion pumps implanted subcutaneously. These pumps are individually controlled using wireless telemetry and a software interface that allows a single user to program, automate, and execute fully-customized dosing regimens across multiple animals in a study. This novel system will achieve the first automated dosing of multiple rodents housed across a large array of cages in a standard vivarium rack in a remotely controlled and on-demand manner. This unique capability will allow researchers to realize complex dosing schemes with fine temporal control. Since the pumps are refillable, chronic dosing is easily achieved with minimal handling of animals. The electronically controlled regimens developed using our system are compatible with emerging clinical technologies for the chronic drug management of conditions such as diabetes, pain, and neurological deficits. This technology will have significant impact at the early stages of the drug discovery and development pipeline by making available complex regimens of modern electronic clinical infusion systems. The ability to gain full control of the frequency, rate, and volume of drug administration will allow operational efficiency and rapid optimization of regimens for maximal therapeutic efficacy. This SBIR Phase 1 proposal addresses (1) significant challenges in controlling multiple miniaturized pumps per cage (up to 5) in an array of cages simultaneously (up to 9) and (2) integrating this system with a high-density vivaria caging system and (3) providing in vivo validation of the full wireless mult-pump system. These feasibility objectives will provide the foundation for a Phase 2 proposal aimed at expansion of the system beyond 9 cages and deployment to multiple vivaria making this innovation available for research, veterinary, and preclinical applications.
Drug administration technology is critical in biomedical research and clinical care yet the few technologies available are imperfect and inefficient, particularly for animal care and research. To achieve precise and automated control of drug delivery in freely behaving animals and to improve animal welfare in administration paradigms, we will develop the first scalable, automated, wireless control system that is entirely compatible with implantable micropumps in standard vivaria infrastructure.
