Implantable device delivers drugs and overcomes rejection by the body

The advance by teams at University of Galway and Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) could lead to intelligent, long-lasting, tailored treatment for patients.

The implantable device can administer a drug – and sense when the body is beginning to reject it - and use AI to change the shape of the device to maintain drug dosage, simultaneously bypassing scar tissue buildup and maintaining treatment. The team’s findings are detailed in Science Robotics. 

Implantable medical device technologies offer promise to unlock advanced therapeutic interventions in healthcare, such as insulin release to treat diabetes, but a major issue holding back such devices is the patient’s reaction to a foreign body. 

In a statement, Dr Rachel Beatty, University of Galway, and co-lead author on the study, said: “The technology which we have developed, by using soft robotics, advances the potential of implantable devices to be in a patient’s body for extended periods, providing long-lasting therapeutic action. Imagine a therapeutic implant that can also sense its environment and respond as needed using AI - this approach could generate revolutionary changes in implantable drug delivery for a range of chronic diseases.”