Device Built via Laser Lift-Off Could Advance Precision Medicine

Researchers have fabricated a flexible drug delivery microdevice (f-DDM) with controlled release using a laser micromachining technique. The device could provide controlled release for personalized drug therapy to organs with curved surfaces, such as the brain or the eye.

The researchers, from the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), fabricated the microdevice on a rigid substrate and transferred a 50-μm-thick active drug delivery layer to the flexible substrate via inorganic laser lift-off. The fabricated device shows mechanical flexibility while maintaining the capability of precise administration of exact dosages at desired times.

A schematic view of the flexible drug delivery device for controlled release, fabricated via inorganic laser lift-off. Courtesy of KAIST.

To prevent thermal damage during the laser transfer, the team optimized the f-DDM design using finite element analysis.

The f-DDM was implanted in the brain of live mice for the localized administration of medicine to the cerebral cortex. The f-DDM showed that it was flexible enough to be implantable on the curved cerebral cortex, and it successfully delivered two different chemicals for prevention of seizure activity.

The KAIST researchers believe that its study could open a new avenue for the controlled, region-specific, and combinatorial application of drugs — all key factors for precision medicine.

The research was published in Nano Energy (doi: 10.1016/j.nanoen.2018.06.015).