Researchers at MIT have developed a new drug delivery system that uses tiny gold particles called nanorods and infrared light to deliver multiple drugs in a controlled fashion.
There are already drug delivery devices capable of delivering two drugs, but the timing of the release is built into the device and thus cannot be controlled externally. The great advantage of this new technology is that it can be controlled externally and that it can, in theory, deliver as many as four different drugs.
The technology uses different shapes of gold nanoparticles onto which drug payloads are attached. The different shapes melt, thereby releasing the drug, when exposed to different wavelengths of infrared light, thus making it possible to control the release of each drug.
The researchers say that the technology is “potentially a powerful method for multiple-drug delivery strategies.”
Wijaya A, Schaffer SB, Pallares IG, Hamad-Schifferli K. Selective Release of Multiple DNA Oligonucleotides from Gold Nanorods. ACS Nano. Published December 16, 2008.
News release: Gold particles deliver more than just glitter. Massachusetts Institute of Technology. December 30th 2008.
