Team 26

Injectagon: Automated Hardwired Glucagon Rescue Patch Pump

Team Members: Ricardo Dominguez, Matthew Grudza, Edgar Mendoza, Tim Oetter - SBHSE

Team Mentors: Sean Brown - Creighton University School of Medicine
Dr. Jitendran Muthuswamy - SBHSE
Dr. Brent Vernon - SBHSE

YouTube Link: View the video link below before joining the zoom meeting

Zoom Link: https://asu.zoom.us/j/95364065771


Abstract

Severe hypoglycemia is a state in which a diabetic’s blood glucose concentrations fall to dangerous levels, having the potential to cause coma, stroke, or death in extreme cases. The most common treatment for hypoglycemia is an injection via rescue pens that contain glucagon, the drug that restores glucose levels. Currently every glucagon rescue device comes as a version of an EpiPen, or an emergency kit that requires reconstitution of glucagon powder and a diluent. Both designs require a third-party to inject the patient when they go hypoglycemic. This poses a risk to the patient in the event that they are alone and cannot receive an injection or they are asleep and unaware that they have become hypoglycemic.

We have addressed this issue by creating an automated response injection mechanism that reacts to a real-time reading of the patient’s blood glucose concentration. Dexcom’s G6 continuous glucose monitor (CGM) is the first CGM sensor that is authorized by the FDA to be accurate enough to make insulin dosing decisions. This authorization allows our device to operate according to the readings that come from the transmitter. After our device receives the signal from the CGM transmitter it will signal two systems in our design. The first system is a needle injection mechanism. This mechanism will be triggered by a micro-Arduino when signaled by the transmitter. Once the mechanism is triggered, it will inject the needle into the patient’s skin. After the needle is injected, the micro-Arduino will signal the drug delivery system to push the dasiglucagon through the needle and into the patient. After the drug is injected, our micro-Arduino will retract the needle to protect the patient. This design will fully automate the injection of glucagon into the diabrtic patient, eliminating the risk of falling into an unconscious, severe hypoglycemic state.


Video: