Developed by researchers from Chalmers University in Sweden, the material is a polymer surface that changes state from capturing to releasing biomolecules when an electric pulse is introduced.
The material also functions in biological fluids with a buffering capacity, in other words fluids with the ability to counteract changes in the pH value. This property paves the way for the creation of a new technique for implants and electronic 'pills' that release the medicine into the body via electronic activation.
“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 very tissue or organ where it’s needed,” said Gustav Ferrand-Drake del Castillo, lead author on the study.
Locally activated drug release is available today in the form of materials that change their state in the event of a change in the...