Drinking pump and stand - REMAP - Custom made equipment for disabled people
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Drinking pump and stand

Our client was in the final stages of MND where he had lost most of his ability to move, and when he wanted a drink, he was having to be fed cup to mouth. However, he had a bit of head movement and a bit of hand movement – and wanted to be be able to take a drink unaided from wherever he happened to be sitting.

The solution

Engineers Ian Midgley and Brian Wood created a drinking station for use wherever it was needed.

The flow rate of the pump needed to be very low to minimise any choking risk, so we identified a small 12V peristaltic dosing pump typically used for aquariums, for just a few pounds. A peristaltic pump doesn’t pump directly – it uses rollers in the pump head to squeeze the fluid through a tube so there can be no cross-contamination between the pump and the fluid.  The tube is food-grade silicone and approx 4mm O/D, 2mm I/D.

This resulted in the sort of flow you might get if slowly squeezing a pipette – more a dribble than a flow – but ideally suited for the purpose as MND often affects ability to swallow.

A reversing switch was added to the pump to help with cleaning, and four methods of powering the pump were provided. Mains adapter, rechargeable battery pack, dry cell pack, and a car adapter.  A Jelly Bean disability switch was mounted on helicopter pilot’s knee board to allow the client to operate the pump.

A shelf was added to a cheap microphone stand off ebay, and provided a handy platform for use. Instructions on cleaning were included for carers.

The benefit

Our client was able to drink unaided right to the end.

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