Diagnosis, Delivery and Direction Implants Using New Technologies

1. Diagnosis, Delivery and Direction Implants Using New Technologies Alan Murray Professor of Neural Electronics

2. Agenda • Diagnosis • Sensors on chip and the engineering issues they raise • Delivery (drug) • Drug storage and release structures and the engineering issues they raise • Direction • Cell guidance Alan Murray – University of Edinburgh

3. Human hair 70-100 µm Human neuron 4-100 µm Transistor 0.1-1µm Devices and diagnosis:Shapes and Sizes? 1µm = 10-6 (1/1000000th) of 1 metre Or 1 million µm = 1metre Roughly 10,000 hairsbreadths/metre Alan Murray – University of Edinburgh

4. From earlier work on an ingestible chip Temperature easy Conductivity fairly easy pH tricky O2 concentration trickier Most interesting for tumour biology! Diagnosis - Sensors Alan Murray – University of Edinburgh

5. Typical microchip Implantable Microsystems for Personalised Anti-Cancer Therapy (IMPACT) Chip  tumour microenvironment Measure hypoxia (O2concentration) and other markers of tumour activity Radiotherapy planning Chemotherapy planning? Chemotherapy delivery? Alan Murray – University of Edinburgh

6. IMPACT (EPSRC Proposal, £5.3M) Implantable Microsystems for Personalised Anti-Cancer Therapy (IMPACT) Interview, EPSRC Towers, 22nd Feb (JL) Professor Alan Murray -School of Engineering Professor Mark Bradley - School of Chemistry Professor Steve McLaughlin – Engineering, Heriot-Watt Professor Ian Kunkler - Edinburgh Cancer Research Centre Professor David Argyle - Veterinary Clinical Studies Professor Joyce Tait - Innogen Centre - Science, Technology and Innovation Studies 5 years in the making Alan Murray – University of Edinburgh

7. Look – no wires … Alan Murray – University of Edinburgh

8. Devices and diagnosis:Drug delivery • So far … chips can be: • tiny • wireless • Chips can contain • Sensors • O2, pH, conductivity, temperature • biomarkers • Chips can also store and release liquid Alan Murray – University of Edinburgh

9. Direction:Cell guidance Neurones, glia … also stem cells, kidney cells … Alan Murray – University of Edinburgh

10. Potential benefits • Personalised therapy • Treatment at home • Optimised timing/location of therapy • Chemotherapy released local to tumour • Maximise tumour damage • Minimise collateral/systemic damage • Rebuild broken nervous system components Alan Murray – University of Edinburgh

11. Future trends • More, better, smaller sensors • More and better algorithms for making sense of sensors • Better security • Flexible substrates Alan Murray – University of Edinburgh

12. Some Issues • Insertion • Stereotactic is possible … long thin chips • Bio-fouling • Body’s reaction to foreign objects • Wireless communications • Radio/ultrasound • Signals from sensors/to drug-delivery • “noisy” and not 100% accurate • Security • Need to deliver therapy at the tumour’s (in)convenience, not on a regular schedule Alan Murray – University of Edinburgh

13. But these are only the scientist’s concerns … • We NEED a wider view • Hence the inclusion of social scientists and potential patients in the IMPACT proposal • Hence my being here today Alan Murray – University of Edinburgh