Drug Delivery Devices

New therapies and administration methods call for new solutions.

Bühler Motor drives make all sorts of things possible. Drugs with a high viscosity, for example, can be delivered at appropriate intervals subcutaneously.

Our drive technologies support the easy handling of these systems while guaranteeing maximum safety. Efficient and almost silently – allowing maximum mobility and absolute discretion for patients.

Areas of expertise

The latest generation of near-patient delivery devices

  • Applications for
    micro-drives:

    • Drug Delivery Devices:
      • Large-volume wearable injectors
      • On-body devices
      • Auto-injectors
      • Insulin pumps
      • Patch pumps

Bühler Motor Case Studies

Drive unit for subcutaneous drug delivery

Task: Development and industrial production of a complete extra-small gear motor – from the prototype to series production. Additional integration of
a customer interface (snap-fit) in close collaboration with partners.

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The challenge: A compact, cost-effective extra-small drive in a tiny installation space, consisting of an electric motor, planetary gear and coupling as
customer interface. The drive needed to be extremely robust in order to ensure maximum reliability under a continuous axial load. Quiet operation
was also essential to allow discreet use by the patient.

The Bühler Motor solution: A customized, compact, efficient drive not bound to any platform. Cost-effective development was possible due to
the successful combination of process and material expertise. In-house testing during the course of development meant that strength and smooth
running could be continuously monitored and perfected. The complete measurement of all components ensured that our manually produced
drive units could be used for clinical studies. This therefore minimized the investment risks for an automated production line. Even during the
prototype/small series production care was taken to ensure that the process would be as identical as possible to the processes in later large-scale
production. This also included control plans, process flow plans and the release strategy by means of batch documentation.

The close cooperation between the project teams and the local proximity to overall four involved partners made it possible to work
together smoothly and to meet tight timeline.

New solution for disposable drug delivery system

Task: The development of a drive solution for a disposable drug delivery system conforming to medical product class IIb, including electronics.

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The challenge: An ambitious cost target based on annual production volumes of several million units.

The Bühler Motor solution: A brilliantly simple contacting methods for the motor and electrics helped to lower manufacturing costs sustainably.
In addition, electronics were developed for the sensor-free detection of the start and end of delivery. The modular-based production concept
enabled a smooth transition from pilot production to series manufacture.

For the very high volumes, Bühler Motor implemented a largely automated production system.


Medical Equipment

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Healthcare expertise

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Healthcare quality

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