General > General Technical Chat
Medtronic “MedCareLink”: send back or keep?
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thm_w:

--- Quote from: xrunner on December 09, 2022, 02:10:27 am ---There are pics anyway on the internet of what's inside so ... yea. Taking it apart might be difficult because it's probably welded closed, as you don't want those pain meds dripping into your body unregulated.  :P

--- End quote ---

ohh yeah I see what you mean now, they are stainless steel that contains a reservoir with the drug, that is something to be cautious about.
https://mriquestions.com/implanted-infusion-pumps.html

Imagine you mailed that in to Dave and customs tore it apart.
babysitter:
I think it was something like 10 nuclear powered units still in use, {1-5} years back.
Yes, consider this stuff one-time-use.
WattsThat:
The primary drug used in those pumps is morphine. Concentration is very low so it is of no real danger, other than possibly possessing a controlled substance illegally (depends on your location).

Those pumps deliver 20 ml of drug over a typical time of 90 days with a continuous infusion so it’s micro liters per day pumped. They really excel at controlling cancer pain so much so that they typically extend terminal patients lives a year or more since the pain can be managed so effectively, unlike oral medications. The only downside is having it implanted. They typically use a wireless patient controller that allows them to self administer a preset number of bolus doses per day as the pain dictates.

Battery life is dependent upon flow rate. Most are good for at least five years.
james_s:
Why do they have it implanted rather than just worn in a holster or strapped to the body? Seems quite invasive for something that just dispenses a small amount of a drug.
xrunner:

--- Quote from: james_s on December 10, 2022, 01:23:52 am ---Why do they have it implanted rather than just worn in a holster or strapped to the body? Seems quite invasive for something that just dispenses a small amount of a drug.

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How is the medicine going to get from outside the body to inside the body safely in an active person's life over a long term basis (years) without infections, tubing being torn, etc. ?

Also some of the medicines are highly controlled substances which - believe it or not - people will tamper with if the containment device is out in the open, to get at the controlled substances.

In fact, one of my mom's technicians who filled the pump said some people even tried to insert a needle into the implanted pump to extract the medicine. There is no barrier to stop an attempt to do this. Yes, that is really what some people will do.
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