Near-infrared–actuated devices for remotely controlled drug delivery

Abstract

A reservoir that could be remotely triggered to release a drug would enable the patient or physician to achieve on-demand, reproducible, repeated, and tunable dosing. Such a device would allow precise adjustment of dosage to desired effect, with a consequent minimization of toxicity, and could obviate repeated drug administrations or device implantations, enhancing patient compliance. It should exhibit low off-state leakage to minimize basal effects, and tunable on-state release profiles that could be adjusted from pulsatile to sustained in real time. Despite the clear clinical need for a device that meets these criteria, none has been reported to date to our knowledge. To address this deficiency, we developed an implantable reservoir capped by a nanocomposite membrane whose permeability was modulated by irradiation with a near-infrared laser. Irradiated devices could exhibit sustained onstate drug release for at least 3 h, and could reproducibly deliver short pulses over at least 10 cycles, with an on/off ratio of 30. Devices containing aspart, a fast-acting insulin analog, could achieve glycemic control after s.c. implantation in diabetic rats, with reproducible dosing controlled by the intensity and timing of irradiation over a 2-wk period. These devices can be loaded with a wide range of drug types, and therefore represent a platform technology that might be used to address a wide variety of clinical indications.gold | nanoshell | poly(n-isopropylacrylamide) | ethylcellulose | diabetes

Repeatable and adjustable on-demand sciatic nerve block with phototriggerable liposomes

“…These systems can allow drugs to be released at the desired dosage, time, and location, enhancing the therapeutic effect and reducing side effects (8). A wide range of energy sources have been used as external triggers, such as light (9,10), ultrasound (11), and magnetic fields (12). Light has been especially attractive because of the ease with which it can be controlled (with respect to wavelength, power, and duration of irradiation) and because it has been used in clinical medicine (13).…”

Recent progress on liquid metals and their applications

“…As inorganic nanoparticles display numerous advantages in drug delivery for the treatment of diseases, several inorganic nanocarriers have been created for targeted treatment [99][100][101][102][103]. These approaches are limited by certain factors, however, such as toxicity and lack of biodegradability [12].…”

Concept of Drug Delivery

“…One of the most promising materials in this fi eld are the carbon-nanotubes composites and hybrid materials coupling the advantages of polymers (biocompatibility and biodegradability) with those of carbon nanotubes (cellular uptake, stability, electromagnetic, and magnetic behavior). The applicability of polymer-carbon nanotubes composites in drug delivery, with particular attention to the controlled release by composites hydrogel, is being extensively investigated in the present days [ 1 ].…”

“…Langer: A reservoir that could be remotely triggered to release a drug would enable the patient or physician to achieve on-demand, reproducible, repeated, and tunable dosing [ 1 ]. Devices that release a drug in response to a remote trigger would enable on-demand control of the timing and dose of drug released.…”

“…The drug delivery concept involves targeted therapy by using the systems that will reach the specifi c target with high precision and deliver drug in a dosage necessary for improvement or destruction of that tissues without "touching" other cells and/or tissues [ 1 ]. This is a market with intensive intellectual property protection.…”