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Drug delivery

Soft robotic drug-delivery device overcomes fibrotic encapsulation

Nature Reviews Bioengineering volume 1, page 693 (2023)Cite this article

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Drug-delivery devices can be implanted in the body to deliver drugs sustainably in a controlled manner — for example, for the long-term treatment of chronic diseases. However, the immune system reacts to implanted materials by depositing a dense layer of fibrous scar tissue around the device, which ultimately compromises its function. Now, writing in Science Robotics, Ellen T. Roche, Garry P. Duffy and team have developed a soft robotic drug-delivery device that can sense and respond to the formation of scar tissue in real time to maintain its ability to deliver drugs long-term.

To detect and respond to fibrotic capsule formation, the researchers designed a biocompatible soft robotic drug-delivery device known as FibroSensing Dynamic Soft Reservoir, which consists of a fibrotic-sensing membrane that can monitor physiological signals related to the formation of fibrotic capsules. This information is then harnessed in a feedback system to inform a mechanical actuation regime to precisely deliver a consistent drug dose, regardless of the level of fibrosis.

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References

Original article

  • Beatty, R. et al. Soft robot–mediated autonomous adaptation to fibrotic capsule formation for improved drug delivery. Sci. Robot. 8, eabq4821 (2023)

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  1. Nature Reviews Bioengineering https://www.nature.com/natrevbioeng/

    Christine-Maria Horejs

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  1. Christine-Maria Horejs
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Correspondence to Christine-Maria Horejs.

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Horejs, CM. Soft robotic drug-delivery device overcomes fibrotic encapsulation. Nat Rev Bioeng 1, 693 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s44222-023-00122-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s44222-023-00122-9

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