Robert Channon Explained

Robert Derek Channon (born 15 June 1944) is a British engineer known for inventing an insulin pump for diabetics, and miniaturized helicopters for the UK military.[1] A diabetic himself, Channon developed the three ounce insulin pump to replace his own regular insulin injections.[2] The National Medical Research Foundation awarded Channon £26,000 to develop the pump.[3] In 1980, the National Medical Research Foundation awarded Guy's Hospital £40,000 to test Channon's pump in people with diabetes. The trial, under the supervision of Harry Keen, tested whether using the pump reduced the development of blindness in 30 people with diabetes.[2]

In July 2024 Channon was awarded an honorary Doctor of Engineering degree, by UWE Bristol, in recognition of his contribution to the management of type 1 diabetes.[4]

The insulin infusion pump and related inventions

In 1978 Channon was referred to Professor Harry Keen, a diabetes specialist at Guy's Hospital, who took him on as a patient. During a consultation Professor Keen suggested that Channon might benefit from a portable continuous infusion syringe pump developed at Guy's. Channon quickly realised that the paperback-book sized device could be dramatically improved. Impressed by Channon's ideas and initial prototypes, Professor Keen and his colleague Dr Pickup wrote to the City of Bath Technical School, where Channon was at the time a lecturer, requesting he be seconded to Guy's hospital to work on the clinical evaluation of his prototype.[5] [6]

Between 1978 and 1979 Channon designed and fabricated an insulin pump driven by a small compression spring with a programmable bore to allow different rates of insulin infusion. Channon tested this device on himself in what is believed to be the first time a background bolus regime was used to treat an insulin dependent diabetic. The device is now part of the Bristol Museums Collection.[7]

With the support of two National Medical Research fund (now WellChild) grants - £26,000 to Channon to fund his secondment and £40,000 to Guy's to support the clinical evaluation - Channon developed a compact insulin infusion pump "no larger than a pocket cigarette lighter" and weighing just three ounces.[2] The pump could be set to a 3-stage decaying programme, which automatically delivered 3 infusions during the day with a successively lower dose on the 2nd and 3rd. In addition the user could manually operate the device when required to cope with the additional insulin required when eating a meal.

Channon's work received national, regional and professional coverage including articles in the Times,[3] the Telegraph,[8] New Scientist[2] and the bulletin of the Institute of Marine Engineers. In 1981 the work was featured in the national magazine of Diabetes UK.[9]

Following a suggestion by Professor Keen, Channon also developed a 5ml syringe with a precision engineered mechanism for delivering doses of insulin with an audible and tactile click on each rotation of a knurled thimble, for use by blind and deaf-blind diabetics.[10] The dosage could be varied simply by increasing, or decreasing, the number of clicks given at each injection. Channon named this device the Multiject.[11]

In 1981 Channon left Guy's Hospital to continue his work with Drs Martin Hartog and Richard Paisey at the Bristol Royal Infirmary. Channon then developed the miniature Portaject device.[12] Unlike the Multiject the Portaject is designed to be worn. It has the capacity for sufficient insulin for 24 hours (at the time insulin had to be refrigerated; at room or body temperature it would become unusable after 24 hours). Channon self-funded the design and fabrication work through his company Channon Medical Ltd. He filed a patent for the Portaject in 1988[13] but subsequently withdrew the application, choosing instead to donate his research to the field.

Clinical trials at the BRI were supported by a small grant of £4,500 from the National Medical Research fund. Dr Hartog attests that "Portaject was the first device that allowed convenient repeated subcutaneous injections of insulin and led to the Novopen. Administration of insulin in this way resulted in a much improved control of the patient's diabetes and, consequently, to a considerably improved prognosis overall". Dr Paisey recalls that clinical trials were conducted with 20 patients and that "one of them continued for 20 years with the same device and achieved good glycemic control. He also designed and manufactured a belt to house the pump".[14] Another long term user, Stephen Dixon, wrote to Channon "Thanks so much for doing what you did. You truly helped transform millions of lives, including mine".

In 1989 Channon developed a simple device for protecting, lubricating and sterilizing a hypodermic needle.[15]

Other Inventions

The Nitrohawk Rotary Unmanned Air Vehicle

Over a ten-year period between 1988 and 1998 Channon developed a high performance radio controlled helicopter suitable for a variety of professional uses including surveillance, environmental monitoring and aerial photography. Nitrohawk was equipped with a broadcast quality digital camera with pan/tilt and 20x zoom. A novel gyroscopic stabilization system designed by Channon allowed the vehicle to hover in place without constant attention by the pilot, and allowing high resolution images to be captured or transmitted live without motion blur; performance that was state of the art in the mid-1990s.[16] A Nitrohawk was acquired to assist with stunt filming in the movie Skyfall.[17]

Animal warning system for road vehicles

In 1999 Channon developed an ultrasonic device that can be attached to road vehicles, with the aim of cutting the number of wild animals killed on roads. Channon noticed that while driving across Exmoor in his turbo charged car he didn't hit any animals at all until one occasion when his car's turbo charger failed. He deduced that the high-pitched whine of the turbo charger must be giving an early warning to animals and reproduced the same effect with a simple ultrasonic device.[18]

Notes and References

  1. News: Inventor has bitter victory . Gazette and Herald . 28 March 2002 . 2 January 2023.
  2. Insulin pump calls the shots . New Scientist . 6 November 1980 . 2 January 2023 . 88 . 1226 . 369.
  3. News: Portable pump gives hope to diabetics . Annabel Ferriman . The Times . London . 23 October 1980 . 5 . The pump, designed by an engineer with diabetes, is to be tested in clinical trials on 25 to 30 patients at Guy's Hospital, London ... Professor Harry Keen, director of the Unit for metabolic medicine at Guy's Hospital Medical School, announcing the trial, said yesterday: 'There is a 10 per chance of diabetics becoming visually disabled after 20 years, and about half of those diagnosed by the age of 15 are dead before the age of 40. What the pump has done is to give us the opportunity to return a patient's metabolism to very close to normal' ... The pump, half the size of a cigarette pack and weighing 3 ounces, was developed by Mr Robert Channon, aged 36, a marine engineer with severe diabetes.
  4. Web site: Pioneer who improved lives of people with diabetes awarded honorary degree UWE Bristol . 2024-07-22 . www.uwe.ac.uk . en-GB.
  5. News: Breakthrough for diabetics. Evening Standard . London . 23 October 1980 . ... Professor Harry Keen said that the new device had been perfected from previous prototypes by one of the diabetic unit's patients ... Mr Robert Channon..
  6. News: Roy Heelas. A fresh lease of life for diabetics . Bristol Evening Post . Bristol . 23 October 1980 . Marine Engineer Bob Channon (36) of Woodlands, Holcombe Bath, has produced a miniature insulin infusion pump ... Mr Channon is a lecturer in marine mechanical engineering and naval architecture at Bath Technical College..
  7. Web site: First miniature infusion device, Bristol City Council : Museum Collections. 28 February 2023.
  8. News: David Fletcher . Pump raises hopes for diabetics . The Telegraph . London . 23 October 1980 . Hopes that diabetic patients dependent on daily injections of insulin may soon be able to lead a more normal life were raised with the announcement of an invention yesterday ... It is to be tried out on 25 or 30 patients at Guy's Hospital and doctors have high hopes that it will not only improve the quality of their daily life but free them from the worrying side effects of diabetes. The body naturally needs a slow delivery of insulin at night and between meals but a boost at mealtimes. The normal pattern of twice daily injections did not match this natural pattern and in consequence gives rise to complications such as blindness. But the new pump enables insulin to be delivered to the body at varying rates in much the same way as it would be delivered naturally. The pump has been designed and developed by Mr Bob Channon, 36, a marine engineer who has severe diabetes and who has tried the pump out on himself over the past six months..
  9. Insulin pump 'shrunk'. Diabetes UK . Balance . February 1981 . Bob Channon is in the unique position of being a guinea pig for his own experiments. A diabetic, he has developed an insulin infusion pump, an updated version of which he has been wearing continuously for more than a year ... 'I short-circuit everything. I sit in my office, get an idea, draw it, make it, take it to Guy's and discuss it then try it on myself'..
  10. News: Bob, 37 Unveils Diabetic Aid . Bristol Evening Post . Bristol . 10 May 1982 . Engineer Mr Bob Channon, aged 37, has invented a device which could be a major aid for 30,000 blind diabetics ... He has developed it with the encouragement of diabetics expert Professor Harry Keen of Guy's Hospital, London..
  11. Web site: Multiject infusion device, Bristol City Council : Museum Collections. 28 February 2023.
  12. Web site: Portaject infusion device, Bristol City Council : Museum Collections. 28 February 2023.
  13. Web site: Multiple injection infusion device (portable), UK Patent Application GB2222525A, 28 March 1988 . Google Patents . 25 August 2022.
  14. News: Nigel Heath . Patient's Thanks . Bristol Evening Post . Bristol . 3 May 1985.
  15. Web site: Sterile needle protector, UK Patent Application GB2232601A, 15 June 1989 . Google Patents . 25 August 2022.
  16. Steve Hynes. Eye in the Sky . Professional Photographer . 53–56. October 1994 .
  17. News: Heather Skull. Inventor lands 007 film role. Gazette and Herald. 14 May 2001 . 27 March 2023.
  18. News: Imogen Sellers . Invention could cut animal road deaths . Wiltshire Times. 25 June 1999.