Case Study
18
Solution for Compact, Safe, and
Precise Insulin Pump
Portable insulin infusion pumps
improve the quality of life for
people with diabetes by delivering
insulin without the need for manual
injections, making treatment of the
disease safer and easier.
These cell-phone-sized, battery-
powered wearable devices deliver
precise and adjustable doses of
insulin by powering a small brushless
direct current (BLDC) motor that moves
a plunger, pushing preprogrammed
amounts of insulin through a reservoir
into the pump's tubing.
In the design of insulin pumps,
engineers must merge the
requirements of wearable devices
(compactness, long battery duration)
with the unique challenges of medical
device design (precision, reliability). To
satisfy these requirements, it is critical
that the pump's motor driving circuitry
be very small, extremely precise, and
consume very little battery power.
STMicroelectronics provides an ideal
solution to each of these design
challenges with the STSPIN230
half-bridge motor driver. The device
provides a fully-protected power stage
in a tiny 3mm x 3mm QFN package,
so its footprint is miniscule. The
driving exibility offered by separated
high-side and low-side signals make
it possible to implement complex
algorithms to control insulin ow with
extreme precision. And consuming
less than 80nA in standby, and minimal
power even at full load, the STSPIN230
is optimized for systems requiring
extended battery life.
By Enrico Poli, STMicroelectronics
STEVAL-3DP001V1
Plug-n-play solution for 3D printers
mouser.com/stm-steval-3dp001v1-board/
• Adaptable to any 3D printer
mechanics
• Based on open-source Marlin
rmware running on STM32
• Driving up to 6 axes (3
extruders) with programmable
motor currents via rmware
