Drug Delivery Assisted by Brain Waves

The application of nanotech in precise drug has reached an unparallel stage; more unbelievable ideas as the title implies are put into practice to make impossible into fact. Mind wave is quiet often mentioned in scientific fictions and movies. It exists but seldom can be taken advantages of. In this case, mind wave plays as an instructor; drug will be delivered with its changes.

Still the idea is not tried on human, but the one did in cockroach has made it very hopeful for further presentation on human bodies and the standing point of the experiment is that human brain wave was used to control the drug delivery in cockroach.

The research team is from Israel and developed the idea on the base of DNA origami nanorobot. The conventional drug for aiming at brain area is taken in the traditional way and waiting to be dispatched to the target area, which makes the drug have to go through our digestion system as the ordinary drugs to take effects, however, it’s the process that destroy the coating of drugs and weaken their medical effect before they really get into the places where really need them. 

The research team combined their idea with the DNA origami nanorobot, and makes it as the drug loader. The loaded drug is tied to the nanorobot, and it can be only released when the nanorobot open and the tie is cut off. Then they tried to convert mind waves into EEG (electroencephalo-graph) to control the nanorobot.

The team developed a simple version of algorithm to distinguish the EEG and transform them into orders. The brain waves of people in two states were collected-at rest and doing mental arithmetic. Under the combination of an iron nanoparticle, the nanorobot can be controlled directly under EGG orders. Then the nanorobot can be opened or closed with the brain waves change. They just made it in a simple version.

The success is a strong hint for a later wider-scale success. And it helps to ensure that their thinking direction is correct. With it, brain drugs like reboxetine will better functions, and it may boost the development of precise drug into a higher stage as it may provide inspiration in transforming other organ or even blood’s activities into a signal to make drugs like peficitinib and ecamsule targeting body area benefit.