Evaluation of the performance and accuracy of easypump elastomeric devices for home chemotherapy

Cancer patients‘ quality of life was improved by the introduction of home-based therapy services. Where appropriate, patients can receive their chemotherapy comfortably at home using elastomeric pumps. [1] Despite their advantages, these pumps may have inaccurate infusion times when used under conditions other than indicated by manufacturers.[2] Environmental conditions in patients‘ homes vary significantly leading to inaccurate infusion rates and unpredictable end of infusion time, contributing to scheduling disruptions and increased patient wait times. [3] The aim of this research was to evaluate the accuracy of Easypump® devices at contrasting temperatures using diluents of different viscosities. Twelve elastomeric pumps ( Easypumps® II -270mL, 1 mL/hr, target finish time=11days ) were filled with 0.9% saline or 10% dextrose solutions and incubated at 25 , 40 and 8°C. Pumps were left to elute continuously. The eluent was collected daily (n=5) and weighed three times. Using saline, the mean flow rate of pumps incubated at 25°C was 1.4 mL/hr on day 1. The flow rate decreased during analysis with a coefficient of variation of 28% that extended infusion time to 14 days. Pumps at 40°C had a higher flow rate (1.7 mL/hr) on day1. The flow rate ranged 1-1.7 mL/hr with elution completed on day 10. Using dextrose 10% at 25°C, the mean flow rate was 1.1 mL/hr on day 1. However flow rate decreased over time extending elution time to 16 days. Thermal cycling of pumps from 6-8°C to 40°C caused the pumps to elute more quickly up to 1.92 mL/hr with elution completing on day 8. To conclude, the measured flow rate might not match the specified (expected) flow rate, and varied with temperature and the viscosity of diluents. This could compromise patient care and quality of life.