Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 77 Massachusetts Ave., Room 12-002A, Cambridge, MA, USA.
Curr Pharm Biotechnol. 2010 Jun;11(4):398-403. doi: 10.2174/138920110791233262.
Drug delivery microdevices based on MEMS (Micro-Electro-Mechanical-Systems) represent the next generation of active implantable drug delivery systems. MEMS technology has enabled the scaling down of current delivery modalities to the micrometer and millimeter size. The complementary use of biocompatible materials makes this technology potentially viable for a wide variety of clinical applications. Conditions such as brain tumors, chronic pain syndromes, and infectious abscess represent specialized clinical diseases that will likely benefit most from such drug delivery microdevices. Designing MEMS microdevices poses considerable technical and clinical challenges as devices need to be constructed from biocompatible materials that are harmless to human tissue. Devices must also be miniaturized and capable of delivering adequate pharmacologic payload. Balancing these competing needs will likely lead to the successful application of MEMS drug delivery devices to various medical conditions. This work reviews the various factors that must be considered in optimizing MEMS microdevices for their appropriate and successful application to medical disease.
基于微机电系统（Micro-Electro-Mechanical-Systems，MEMS）的药物输送微器件代表了下一代主动植入式药物输送系统。MEMS 技术使当前的输送方式缩小到微米和毫米尺寸。生物相容性材料的互补使用使这项技术有可能适用于各种临床应用。脑肿瘤、慢性疼痛综合征和传染性脓肿等疾病代表了特殊的临床疾病，它们可能最受益于这种药物输送微器件。设计 MEMS 微器件面临着相当大的技术和临床挑战，因为需要使用对人体组织无害的生物相容性材料来制造器件。这些设备还必须小型化，并能够输送足够的药物有效载荷。平衡这些相互竞争的需求，可能会导致 MEMS 药物输送设备成功应用于各种医疗状况。这项工作回顾了在优化 MEMS 微器件以将其适当地成功应用于医学疾病时必须考虑的各种因素。
