Microcapsules for drug delivery

Micrometre-sized capsules that are able to deliver drugs inside living cells to replace regular dosing are being developed by scientists at Queen Mary, University of London.

The technique inserts ‘micro shuttles’ that are loaded with a full course of prescription drugs under the skin. These are then opened remotely using biological triggers, such as a drop in blood sugar levels, or activated manually with a pulse of light.

Working on the project, Queen Mary PhD student Matthieu Bédard, said: ‘The main advantage of using such microcapsules is that they can be designed to be very stable inside the body, protecting their contents. This is particularly important for the many medications that are rapidly degraded or altered by the body. These capsules can be used to "store" drugs in the body for later use.’

The capsules, which are two micrometres in diameter, are built by wrapping strands of a metabolism-resistant material around spherical particles that are then dissolved in acid to leave behind an empty container.