Despite efforts to individualize dosages, toxicity and efficacy outcomes of chemotherapy vary considerably among patients due to the highly variable and unpredictable biochemistry of the individual. Dosages based on monitoring drug concentration levels have been shown to improve therapeutic outcome of many chemo agents. Drug concentration level measurement in brain fluid provides clinicians feedback to ascertain toxicity level and optimize the administration of chemotherapeutics by adapting the dosage.


The MBP incorporates an on-board sensor which can be tuned to monitor varying concentrations of medications in the brain fluid.  This sensor has currently been tested and shown to be effective in monitoring drug concentrations in real time.



The Metronomic Biofeedback Pump (MBP) is a fully implantable smart infusion device, designed to locally deliver chemotherapies or medication over time to a target site.  Current methods of treatment for brain cancer using chemotherapy require a patient to visit a doctor for twice weekly injections of relatively large quantities of the drug, causing spikes in the concentration present in the brain. The MBP seeks to improve on this by gradually delivering medication over time in smaller doses.  This minimizes initial peak concentrations as well as maintains effective levels of the drug over the duration of the treatment. It has been shown in a recent study that continuous treatment with chemotherapy improves the therapeutic effect and reduces the complications that commonly occur during the course of treatment.