INT Medical Elastomeric Infusion Pump

Some infusions don't require a patient to be in bed. A course of intravenous antibiotics may run for weeks, and keeping someone in hospital for it costs a bed, exposes them to hospital organisms and takes them away from ordinary life. Outpatient parenteral therapy exists to avoid that, and it needs a delivery device the patient can live with.

An electronic pump can do the job, but it brings a body to carry, batteries to manage, alarms that sound at inconvenient times, and a device that has to be returned and serviced. An elastomeric pump brings none of that. It is filled, connected, and worn, and when it is empty, it is discarded. There is nothing to program and nothing to go wrong electrically.

What it trades away is precision, and knowing where that trade sits is the point. Delivery depends on the balloon, the restrictor and the resistance of the line, and all three vary. Balloon pressure falls as the reservoir empties unless something holds it, which is what a stabilising valve is for. Restrictor behaviour changes with temperature, and a pump worn against the skin sits warmer than one on a table. Viscosity matters, so a thicker solution runs slower than water at the same setting. None of this makes the approach unsuitable, since most of what is given this way tolerates a margin comfortably.

It does mean the accuracy figure is the specification a buyer should ask for first. Medigear.uk supplies the instructions for use with every order.

No Power, Stand or Programming

Delivery is mechanical throughout, so there is nothing to charge, mount or set beyond the rate, and nothing that can alarm at three in the morning.

Genuinely Portable

The device is carried in a pocket or pouch, which is what makes outpatient therapy practical rather than merely possible.

Pressure Held Rather Than Fading

A stabilising valve keeps the line at 10 kPa across the emptying cycle, where an unregulated balloon would deliver faster when full and slower when nearly empty.

Drives Harder Than Gravity

At 10 kPa, the pump exerts roughly a quarter more than a container hung at 80 cm, without depending on where the patient holds it.

Adjustable Rate

All four references include a flow regulator over 30 to 250 mL per hour, whereas many elastomeric pumps offer a single fixed rate set during manufacture.

Air-Eliminating Filtration at 2 Microns

Finer than a gravity set and handling air as well as particulate, which a sealed portable device needs since it has no drip chamber.

Four Reservoir Volumes

60 to 300 mL allows the device to be matched to the dose and duration, rather than filling a larger reservoir partway.

Consolidated Supply Through Medigear.uk

Medigear.uk quotes the range alongside INT's administration sets, flow regulators and extension tubing on one account.

IP60WR

60 mL reservoir with pressure balancer and flow regulator.

IP100WR

100 mL reservoir with pressure balancer and flow regulator.

IP200WR

200 mL reservoir with pressure balancer and flow regulator.

IP300WR

300 mL reservoir with pressure balancer and flow regulator.

Elastic Balloon Reservoir

Provides the driving force as it contracts toward its unstretched shape.

Pressure Stabilising Valve

Described by INT as patented, maintaining 10 kPa.

10 kPa Infusion Pressure

The stated regular infusion pressure held across delivery.

30 to 250 mL per Hour

The stated flow rate range across the series.

Air Eliminating Filter

Removes air as well as particulate from the delivered fluid.

2 Micron Particle Filtration

The stated filtration threshold, finer than a gravity administration set.

The INT Medical Elastomeric Infusion Pump makes outpatient therapy workable, and its pressure-stabilising valve is the feature that separates it from a plain balloon reservoir. A stretched balloon exerts less force as it empties, so an unregulated device delivers unevenly across the course, and holding 10 kPa addresses that directly. Offering an adjustable regulator across all four volumes is also more than many elastomeric pumps provide. Two things need to be obtained. No flow-rate accuracy figure appears, and on a device where delivery depends on the balloon, restrictor, and temperature together, that tolerance is the specification a buyer compares on. Temperature effect is not addressed either, on a pump designed to be worn against the body. One further note: the product is titled Infusion Pump without qualification, which a buyer expecting an electronic device could easily misread. Medigear.uk will resolve these before offering this range.