In the latest bit of biomimicry, researchers at Johns Hopkins have engineered tiny robots inspired by the parasitic hookworms that dig their teeth into the host’s intestines.
They call them theragrippers, and the idea is that these small, star-shaped devices would latch onto your intestines to deliver medicine.
A team of biomedical engineers and researchers designed the shape-changing microdevices. In a recent test, the multi-clawed devices with sharp micro tips successfully delivered the pain reliever ketorolac (Toradol) into rats.
The theragrippers are made of metal with a thin, shape-changing film and coated with heat-sensitive paraffin wax. Previous in-body devices have been activated using electric or chemical signals. The theragrippers are so small that components like batteries and antennas just weren’t feasible. Instead of external controls, the theragrippers work like small, compressed springs with a temperature-triggered coating.
When the paraffin wax coating reaches body temperature, the devices clamp onto the colonic wall. The machines dig into the intestine and remain attached as the medicine payloads are gradually released into the body.
Extended-release drug delivery has long been a goal in medicine. However, the problem is that extended-release drugs often make their way through your system before they’ve finished dispensing medication.
The hope is that these small drug carriers can autonomously latch onto the intestinal mucosa or inner lining of the intestinal tract and keep the drug load inside the GI tract for a specific amount of time.
Eventually, the theragrippers detach and leave your system via normal gastrointestinal muscular function.
One day, thousands of theragrippers could be deployed at the same time to deliver patient-specific treatment.
