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Beatty R, Mendez KL, Schreiber LHJ, Tarpey R, Whyte W, Fan Y, Robinson ST, O'Dwyer J, Simpkin AJ, Tannian J, Dockery P, Dolan EB, Roche ET, Duffy GP. Soft robot-mediated autonomous adaptation to fibrotic capsule formation for improved drug delivery. Sci Robot 2023; 8:eabq4821. [PMID: 37647382 DOI: 10.1126/scirobotics.abq4821] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/08/2022] [Accepted: 08/02/2023] [Indexed: 09/01/2023]
Abstract
The foreign body response impedes the function and longevity of implantable drug delivery devices. As a dense fibrotic capsule forms, integration of the device with the host tissue becomes compromised, ultimately resulting in device seclusion and treatment failure. We present FibroSensing Dynamic Soft Reservoir (FSDSR), an implantable drug delivery device capable of monitoring fibrotic capsule formation and overcoming its effects via soft robotic actuations. Occlusion of the FSDSR porous membrane was monitored over 7 days in a rodent model using electrochemical impedance spectroscopy. The electrical resistance of the fibrotic capsule correlated to its increase in thickness and volume. Our FibroSensing membrane showed great sensitivity in detecting changes at the abiotic/biotic interface, such as collagen deposition and myofibroblast proliferation. The potential of the FSDSR to overcome fibrotic capsule formation and maintain constant drug dosing over time was demonstrated in silico and in vitro. Controlled closed loop release of methylene blue into agarose gels (with a comparable fold change in permeability relating to 7 and 28 days in vivo) was achieved by adjusting the magnitude and frequency of pneumatic actuations after impedance measurements by the FibroSensing membrane. By sensing fibrotic capsule formation in vivo, the FSDSR will be capable of probing and adapting to the foreign body response through dynamic actuation changes. Informed by real-time sensor signals, this device offers the potential for long-term efficacy and sustained drug dosing, even in the setting of fibrotic capsule formation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rachel Beatty
- Anatomy and Regenerative Medicine Institute (REMEDI), School of Medicine, University of Galway, Galway, Ireland
- SFI Centre for Advanced Materials and BioEngineering Research (AMBER), Trinity College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland
| | - Keegan L Mendez
- Harvard-MIT Program in Health Sciences and Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA
- Institute for Medical Engineering and Science, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA
| | - Lucien H J Schreiber
- Anatomy and Regenerative Medicine Institute (REMEDI), School of Medicine, University of Galway, Galway, Ireland
| | - Ruth Tarpey
- Anatomy and Regenerative Medicine Institute (REMEDI), School of Medicine, University of Galway, Galway, Ireland
- CÚRAM, Centre for Research in Medical Devices, University of Galway, Galway, Ireland
- Biomedical Engineering, School of Engineering, University of Galway, Galway, Ireland
| | - William Whyte
- Institute for Medical Engineering and Science, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA
| | - Yiling Fan
- Department of Mechanical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA
| | - Scott T Robinson
- Anatomy and Regenerative Medicine Institute (REMEDI), School of Medicine, University of Galway, Galway, Ireland
- SFI Centre for Advanced Materials and BioEngineering Research (AMBER), Trinity College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland
| | - Joanne O'Dwyer
- Anatomy and Regenerative Medicine Institute (REMEDI), School of Medicine, University of Galway, Galway, Ireland
| | - Andrew J Simpkin
- School of Mathematical and Statistical Sciences, University of Galway, Galway, Ireland
| | - Joseph Tannian
- Anatomy and Regenerative Medicine Institute (REMEDI), School of Medicine, University of Galway, Galway, Ireland
| | - Peter Dockery
- Anatomy and Regenerative Medicine Institute (REMEDI), School of Medicine, University of Galway, Galway, Ireland
| | - Eimear B Dolan
- Anatomy and Regenerative Medicine Institute (REMEDI), School of Medicine, University of Galway, Galway, Ireland
- CÚRAM, Centre for Research in Medical Devices, University of Galway, Galway, Ireland
- Biomedical Engineering, School of Engineering, University of Galway, Galway, Ireland
| | - Ellen T Roche
- Harvard-MIT Program in Health Sciences and Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA
- Institute for Medical Engineering and Science, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA
- Department of Mechanical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA
| | - Garry P Duffy
- Anatomy and Regenerative Medicine Institute (REMEDI), School of Medicine, University of Galway, Galway, Ireland
- SFI Centre for Advanced Materials and BioEngineering Research (AMBER), Trinity College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland
- CÚRAM, Centre for Research in Medical Devices, University of Galway, Galway, Ireland
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Mehta JN, Morales BE, Rossmeisl JH, Debinski W, Rylander CG. Solid Fiber Inside of Capillary and Modified Fusion-Spliced Fiber Optic Microneedle Devices for Improved Light Transmission Efficiency. J Med Device 2022; 16:041014. [PMID: 36353365 PMCID: PMC9632479 DOI: 10.1115/1.4055607] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/30/2022] [Revised: 09/01/2022] [Indexed: 11/08/2022] Open
Abstract
Convection-enhanced delivery (CED) is a drug delivery technique used to deliver therapeutics directly to the brain and is a continually evolving technique to treat glioblastoma. Early versions of CED have proven to result in inadequate drug volume dispersed (Vd), increasing the likelihood of tumor recurrence. Fiber optic microneedle devices (FMDs) with the ability to deliver fluid and thermal energy simultaneously have shown an ability to increase Vd, but FMDs have historically had low light transmission efficiency. In this study, we present a new fabrication method, solid fiber inside capillary (SFIC) FMD, and a modified fusion splicing (FS) method with the goal of increasing light delivery efficiency. The modified FS FMD resulted in an increase in light transmission efficiency between 49% and 173% compared to previous prototypes. However, the FS FMD resulted in significantly lower transmission efficiencies compared to the SFIC FMD (p ≤ 0.04) and FS FMDs perform much worse when light-absorptive materials, like black dye, are placed in the bore. The light absorption of a candidate cytotoxic agent, QUAD-CTX, appear to be similar to water, and light delivery through FS FMDs filled with QUAD-CTX achieves a transmission efficiency of 85.6 ± 5.4%. The fabrication process of the SFIC FMDs results in extremely fragile FMDs. Therefore, the use of a modified FS FMD fabrication process appears to be better suited for balancing the desire to increase light transmission efficiency while retaining a sturdy FMD construction.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jason N. Mehta
- Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Texas at Austin, 204 E. Dean Keeton Street, Stop C2200, Austin, TX 78712-1591
| | - Brianna E. Morales
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Texas at Austin, 301 E. Dean Keeton Street, C2100, Austin, TX 78712-2100
| | - John H. Rossmeisl
- Department of Small Animal Clinical Sciences, VA-MD College of Veterinary Medicine, Virginia Tech 205 Duckpond Drive, Blacksburg, VA 24061
| | - Waldemar Debinski
- Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center Comprehensive Cancer Center, 1 Medical Center Boulevard, Winston-Salem, NC 27157
| | - Christopher G. Rylander
- Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Texas at Austin, 204 E. Dean Keeton Street, Stop C2200, Austin, TX 78712-1591
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Mehta JN, Morales BE, Hsu FC, Rossmeisl JH, Rylander CG. Constant Pressure Convection-Enhanced Delivery Increases Volume Dispersed With Catheter Movement in Agarose. J Biomech Eng 2022; 144:111003. [PMID: 35656789 PMCID: PMC9254693 DOI: 10.1115/1.4054729] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/24/2021] [Revised: 04/27/2022] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
Abstract
Convection-enhanced delivery (CED) has been extensively studied for drug delivery to the brain due to its inherent ability to bypass the blood-brain barrier. Unfortunately, CED has also been shown to inadequately distribute therapeutic agents over a large enough targeted tissue volume to be clinically beneficial. In this study, we explore the use of constant pressure infusions in addition to controlled catheter movement as a means to increase volume dispersed (Vd) in an agarose gel brain tissue phantom. Constant flow rate and constant pressure infusions were conducted with a stationary catheter, a catheter retracting at a rate of 0.25 mm/min, and a catheter retracting at a rate of 0.5 mm/min. The 0.25 mm/min and 0.5 mm/min retracting constant pressure catheters resulted in significantly larger Vd compared to any other group, with a 105% increase and a 155% increase compared to the stationary constant flow rate catheter, respectively. These same constant pressure retracting infusions resulted in a 42% and 45% increase in Vd compared to their constant flow rate counterparts. Using constant pressure infusions coupled with controlled catheter movement appears to have a beneficial effect on Vd in agarose gel. Furthermore, constant pressure infusions reveal the fundamental limitation of flow-driven infusions in both controlled catheter movement protocols as well as in stationary protocols where maximum infusion volume can never be reliably obtained.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jason N. Mehta
- Walker Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Texas at Austin, 204 E. Dean Keeton Street, Stop C2200, Austin, TX, 78712-1591
| | - Brianna E. Morales
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Texas at Austin, 301 E. Dean Keeton St. C2100, Austin, TX, 78712-2100
| | - Fang-Chi Hsu
- Department of Biostatistics and Data Science, Division of Public Health Sciences, Wake Forest University School of Medicine Medical, Center Boulevard, Winston-Salem, NC 27157
| | - John H. Rossmeisl
- Department of Small Animal Clinical Sciences, VA-MD College of Veterinary Medicine, Virginia Tech, 205 Duckpond Drive, Blacksburg, VA 24061
| | - Christopher G. Rylander
- Walker Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Texas at Austin, 204 E. Dean Keeton Street, Stop C2200, Austin, TX, 78712-1591
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Mehta JN, Rausch MK, Rylander CG. Convection-enhanced delivery with controlled catheter movement: A parametric finite element analysis. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL FOR NUMERICAL METHODS IN BIOMEDICAL ENGINEERING 2022; 38:e3635. [PMID: 35763587 PMCID: PMC9516958 DOI: 10.1002/cnm.3635] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/15/2021] [Revised: 05/12/2022] [Accepted: 06/26/2022] [Indexed: 06/15/2023]
Abstract
Convection-enhanced delivery (CED) is an investigational method for delivering therapeutics directly to the brain for the treatment of glioblastoma. However, it has not become a common clinical therapy due to an inability of CED treatments to deliver therapeutics in a large enough tissue volume to fully saturate the target region. We have recently shown that the combination of controlled catheter movement and constant pressure infusions can be used to significantly increase volume dispersed (Vd ) in an agarose gel brain tissue phantom. In the present study, we develop a computational model to predict Vd achieved by various retraction rates with both constant pressure and constant flow rate infusions. An increase in Vd is achieved with any movement rate, but increase in Vd between successive movement rates drops off at rates above 0.3-0.35 mm/min. Finally, we found that infusions with retraction result in a more even distribution in concentration level compared to the stationary catheter, suggesting a potential increased ability for moving catheters to have a therapeutic impact regardless of the required therapeutic concentration level.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jason N. Mehta
- Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas, USA
| | - Manuel K. Rausch
- Department of Aerospace Engineering and Engineering Mechanics, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas, USA
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Zagotto G, Bortoli M. Drug Design: Where We Are and Future Prospects. Molecules 2021; 26:7061. [PMID: 34834152 PMCID: PMC8622624 DOI: 10.3390/molecules26227061] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/19/2021] [Revised: 11/15/2021] [Accepted: 11/17/2021] [Indexed: 11/24/2022] Open
Abstract
Medicinal chemistry is facing new challenges in approaching precision medicine. Several powerful new tools or improvements of already used tools are now available to medicinal chemists to help in the process of drug discovery, from a hit molecule to a clinically used drug. Among the new tools, the possibility of considering folding intermediates or the catalytic process of a protein as a target for discovering new hits has emerged. In addition, machine learning is a new valuable approach helping medicinal chemists to discover new hits. Other abilities, ranging from the better understanding of the time evolution of biochemical processes to the comprehension of the biological meaning of the data originated from genetic analyses, are on their way to progress further in the drug discovery field toward improved patient care. In this sense, the new approaches to the delivery of drugs targeted to the central nervous system, together with the advancements in understanding the metabolic pathways for a growing number of drugs and relating them to the genetic characteristics of patients, constitute important progress in the field.
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Affiliation(s)
- Giuseppe Zagotto
- Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Padova, Via Marzolo 5, 35131 Padova, Italy
| | - Marco Bortoli
- Institute of Computational Chemistry and Catalysis (IQCC) and Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Sciences, University of Girona, C/M. A. Capmany 69, 17003 Girona, Spain;
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