Soft implantable drug delivery device integrated wirelessly with wearable devices to treat fatal seizures
- Journal:
- Science Advances
- Published:
- DOI:
- 10.1126/sciadv.abd4639
- Affiliations:
- 11
- Authors:
- 14
Research Highlight
Implantable drug-delivery device could save lives in epilepsy
© KATERYNA KON/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY/Getty Images
A wireless implantable device combined with wearable sensors could detect a potentially fatal medical emergency such as an epileptic seizure and automatically deliver a dose of medication.
A team led by researchers from the Institute for Basic Science in South Korea has developed a soft implantable drug-delivery device that can be inserted under the skin of the wrist. It interfaces wirelessly with a headband equipped with sensors that monitor electrical brain activity. A separate power transmitter, resembling a watch, is placed above the implanted device.
If the wearer experiences a medical crisis such as a seizure, the sensors detect it and send a signal to the power transmitter to trigger the implanted drug-delivery system.
A trial in mice showed that the device can deliver a life-saving dose of medication.
References
- Science Advances 7, eabd4639 (2021). doi: 10.1126/sciadv.abd4639