HOUSTON – According to a 2018 survey published in Annals of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology, even though 89% of patients fill their prescriptions, only 44% said they actually carry epinephrine on them.
Now, Rice University students are hoping to improve those odds.
Sugar Land native Albert Han said he came to Rice to study engineering. The bonus he found is lifetime friends with similar interests.
“As we kind of got to know each other better and worked with each other more, we were able to complement each other's strengths and weaknesses,” Han said.
One of his friends, Justin Tang, said he has a severe peanut allergy and like many who need an EpiPen for emergencies, he admits he doesn't carry it because it's bulky. Once on vacation, that was almost a deadly mistake.
“You can imagine the fear in my mother's eyes when she realized that I didn't have my EpiPen on me and we were in some foreign country where we didn't know what proper medical procedures were," Tang said.
With that information, the group of friends combined their brains and bond to invent something better.
They created an injection device so portable, it could fit in a watch.
“That was a very, I guess, exciting moment for us because I guess coming from scratch, we didn't actually expect anything to work,” Han said.
It works, but Jacob Mattia said it's still a work in progress. For one, they want to make it with slimmer materials and potentially save consumers more than just peace of mind for carrying it.
“Another aspect is looking at the market, how can we find a way that might be more affordable for patients as well?" Mattia said.
It seems like an ambitious goal, since it could potentially improve the lives of thousands of people, but they're succeeding with a narrow focus on one close friend.
The watch is not available to the public. Rice University said the students plan to continue working on this project this fall. When they finalize their design, they can apply for FDA approval.
