Drug delivery keeps getting simpler and simpler. With a new device described in USA Today, patients could have implanted microchips dispense drugs directly into their bloodstream, via remote control:
Researchers for MicroCHIPS Inc. say they’ve successfully controlled drug doses for up to six months in dogs that received implants in an experiment. Inside the implants were postage stamp-sized microchips containing 100 tiny reservoirs of medicine released at different intervals and amounts …
Other internal drug-delivery methods already are on the market, from insulin pumps to so-called “passive” drug implants that can’t be externally controlled.
MicroCHIPS’ system is far smaller than insulin pumps – its experimental implant is about the size of a small cookie, and comparable in size to an implantable heart defibrillator. The system also is unique because it uses a wireless device that potentially could control the release of multiple drugs from a single implant in the abdomen, while also monitoring drug levels and adjusting dosing accordingly, Santini said.
MicroCHIPS is another Robert Langer / MIT spinoff company, which ought to be enough to impress anybody. But their site boasts “Our world-class team of nineteen includes fifteen of the best and brightest scientists and engineers” — and makes us wonder about the other four.
Hat tip: Gizmodo
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