Dissolvable micro mirrors enhance imaging, administer heat,
deliver and monitor drugs
Tufts University School of Engineering researchers have
demonstrated silk-based implantable optics that
offer significant improvement in tissue imaging while simultaneously
enabling photo thermal therapy, administering drugs and monitoring drug delivery. The devices also
lend themselves to a variety of other biomedical functions.
Biodegradable and biocompatible, these tiny mirror-like
devices dissolve harmlessly at predetermined rates and require no surgery to
remove them.
The technology is the brainchild of a research team led by
Fiorenzo Omenetto, Frank C. Doble Professor of Engineering at Tufts. For
several years, Omenetto; David L. Kaplan, Stern Family Professor of Biomedical
Engineering and Biomedical Engineering chair, and their colleagues have been
exploring ways to leverage silk's optical capabilities with its capacity as a
resilient, biofriendly material that can stabilize materials while maintaining
their biochemical functionality.