Dr. Colin Franz and Dom D’Andrea are co-authors on a newly-published research article, “Wirelessly controlled, bioresorbable drug delivery device with active valves that exploit electrochemically triggered crevice corrosion.” The research was conceived and written in collaboration with Jahyun Koo and others in the John Rogers biomedical engineering lab at Northwestern University, and published in the August 2020 edition of Science Advances. The full text (and full list of authors) can be found here.
This innovative study demonstrates the utility of an implantable drug release device with wirelessly programmable pharmacokinetic control, made from bioresorbable materials. In other words, we are studying how well this new implanted device can deliver controlled doses of medicine on demand, and then dissolve inside the body. Devices of this type have potential in treatment or rehabilitation protocols for hormone imbalances, malignant cancers, diabetic conditions, and others.
Fig. 1 Wirelessly programmable, bioresorbable drug delivery system.
(A) Illustration and images of an implantable and wirelessly controlled bioresorbable drug delivery system with an electrical triggering unit that includes a radio frequency (RF) power harvester with a Mg coil, a silicon nanomembrane (Si NM) diode, and a Mg/SiO2/Mg capacitor, [A(i)]. (B) RF behavior (scattering parameter, S11) of the harvester (black, experiment; blue, simulation). The resonance frequency is ~5 MHz, selected to allow magnetic coupling with little parasitic absorption by biological tissues. (C) Simulated inductance (black) and Q factor (red) of a single coil with a diameter of 16 mm. (D) Transmitting power as a function of the distance between the transmitting coil and the device (black, experiments; red, simulation). Experimental data are means ± SD; n = 3. (E) Images of wirelessly controlled release of a blue dye in water during immersion in phosphate-buffered solution (PBS; pH 7.4). (F) Accelerated dissolution of an entire system due to immersion in PBS (pH 7.4) at an elevated temperature, 85°C. Photo credit: Jahyun Koo, Korea University.