Magnetic drug delivery device

A drug delivery device that uses magnetism and nanotechnology could be used to treat conditions such as chronic pain, cancer and diabetes.

The device has been developed by researchers at Children’s Hospital Boston in the US through funds from the National Institutes of Health.

The research team, led by Dr Daniel Kohane, has created a small implantable device, less than 1cm in diameter, that encapsulates a drug in a specially engineered membrane, embedded with nanoparticles composed of magnetite, a mineral with magnetic properties.

When a magnetic field is switched on outside the body, near the device, the nanoparticles heat up, causing the gels in the membrane to warm up and temporarily collapse. This opens up pores that allow the drug to pass through and into the body.

When the magnetic force is turned off, the membranes cool and the gels re-expand, closing the pores back up and halting drug delivery. No implanted electronics are required.