Soft implantable drug delivery device integrated wirelessly with wearable devices to treat fatal seizures

Journal:
Science Advances
Published:
DOI:
10.1126/sciadv.abd4639
Affiliations:
11
Authors:
14
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Research Highlight

Implantable drug-delivery device could save lives in epilepsy

© KATERYNA KON/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY/Getty Images

A wireless implantable device combined with wearable sensors could detect a potentially fatal medical emergency such as an epileptic seizure and automatically deliver a dose of medication.

A team led by researchers from the Institute for Basic Science in South Korea has developed a soft implantable drug-delivery device that can be inserted under the skin of the wrist. It interfaces wirelessly with a headband equipped with sensors that monitor electrical brain activity. A separate power transmitter, resembling a watch, is placed above the implanted device.

If the wearer experiences a medical crisis such as a seizure, the sensors detect it and send a signal to the power transmitter to trigger the implanted drug-delivery system.

A trial in mice showed that the device can deliver a life-saving dose of medication.

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References

  1. Science Advances 7, eabd4639 (2021). doi: 10.1126/sciadv.abd4639
Institutions Authors Share
Seoul National University Hospital (SNUH), South Korea
3.500000
 0.25
Center for Nanoparticle Research, IBS, South Korea
3.333333
 0.24
Seoul National University (SNU), South Korea
3.166667
 0.23
Kyung Hee University (KHU), South Korea
2.000000
 0.14
The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin), United States of America (USA)
2.000000
 0.14