Smart implants could administer drugs without need for daily pills

DRUG implants embedded in the body could deliver a dose of medicine at the touch of a smartphone button, ending the need for daily pills, scientists believe.

Swedish researchers have invented a new material which can trap the tiny biomolecules used in medication and release them when triggered by an electric pulse.

The breakthrough could allow the “electronic pills” to be implanted in tissues or organs and allow for doses to be given at regular intervals or when required. It could be particularly useful for older people, who often struggle to remember to take multiple pills, and would allow drugs to be delivered to an exact spot in the body.

At present, when a pill is swallowed it washes through the whole system, which can potentially cause unwanted side-effects. But embedding the drugfilled material into the location where it is needed could allow much stronger doses to be given without the risk of damaging other parts of the body.

“You can imagine a doctor, or a computer program, measuring the need for a new dose of medicine in a patient and a remote-controlled signal activating the release of the drug from the implant located in the tissue or organ where it’s needed,” said PHD student Gustav Ferrand-drake del Castillo, the lead author of the study from Chalmers University of Technology in Gothenburg. “The development of electronic implants is only one of several conceivable applications. Research that helps us to link electronics with biology at a molecular level is an important piece of the puzzle in such a direction.”

Several labs are working on ways to get drugs to specific places in the body. Last week, Stanford University released details of a tiny amphibious robot which can swim through bodily fluids and navigate obstacles to deliver medicine exactly where they need to go.

The research was published in the journal Angewandte Chemie.