Coated Sutures for Localized Drug Delivery 1
Coated Sutures for Localized Drug Delivery 1
Adam G Berger, Sasan Jalili, Jonathan J Chou, Paula T Hammond
Koch Institute at MIT, Institute for Soldier Nanotechnologies
The controlled, localized delivery of a wide range of drugs (small molecules, proteins, nucleic acids) can be critical for a therapeutic’s effects but can also pose many technical challenges. We were particularly interested in delivering gene therapy to localized tissues, such for use in cancer treatment, wound healing therapy, or regenerative medicine. To do so, we engineered controlled release coatings containing our gene therapy directly on commercial sutures. The image here shows how the smooth coating conforms to the braided suture upon which it is deposited.