AN IMPLANT that could one day ensure astronauts get a decent night’s sleep
owes its existence to a children’s bath toy. The device uses spongy artificial
muscles to unleash drugs into the body. Built-in biosensors ensure the patient
gets exactly the right dose.
The developers hope their new “controlled release” technology will be ideal
for delivering repeated, measured doses of drugs such as the insulin that
diabetics need to regulate their blood sugar. But the researchers hope one of
the first applications will be delivering melatonin to astronauts to regulate
their sleep patterns.
Controlled release is a key aim in…
