(June 23, 2015) A team of researchers has created a new
implantable drug-delivery system using nanowires that can be wirelessly
controlled.
The nanowires respond to an electromagnetic field generated
by a separate device, which can be used to control the release of a preloaded
drug. The system eliminates tubes and wires required by other implantable
devices that can lead to infection and other complications, said team leader
Richard Borgens, Purdue University's Mari Hulman George Professor of Applied
Neuroscience and director of Purdue's Center for Paralysis Research.
"This tool allows us to apply drugs as needed directly
to the site of injury, which could have broad medical applications,"
Borgens said. "The technology is in the early stages of testing, but it is
our hope that this could one day be used to deliver drugs directly to spinal
cord injuries, ulcerations, deep bone injuries or tumors, and avoid the
terrible side effects of systemic treatment with steroids or
chemotherapy."
The team tested the drug-delivery system in mice with
compression injuries to their spinal cords and administered the corticosteroid
dexamethasone. The study measured a molecular marker of inflammation and scar
formation in the central nervous system and found that it was reduced after one
week of treatment. A paper detailing the results will be published in an
upcoming issue of the Journal of Controlled Release and is currently available
online.